Travels into North America : containing its natural history, and a circumstantial account of its plantations and agriculture in general, with the civil, ecclesiastical and commercial state of the country, the manners of the inhabitants, and several curious and important remarks on various subjects

MEMORML LIBRARY
UNIVERSITY OF PjTT?r>.,e.-.:^,

^-/^^y Cy^&m7i€y C^

UNIVERiSITY OF PITTSBURGH

V.3

Darlington Ai.emorial L/iorary

T

A V E L S

INTO

NORTH AMERICA^

containing

Its Natural History, and

A circumftantlal Account of its Plantations
and Agriculture in general,

WITH THE

CIVIL, ECCLESIASTICAL AND COMMERCIAL
STATE OF THE COUNTRY,

The MANNERS of the inhabit,ants, and feveral curious
and IMPORTANT REMARKS On various Subjeds.

By peter K a L M,

Profeflbr of Oeconomy in the Univerfity of Aobo in Swedifh
Finland^ and Member of the S-wediJh Royal Academy of
Sciences.

TRANSLATED INTO ENGLISH

By JOHN REINOLD FO RSTE R, F. A.S.

Enriched with a Map, feveral Cuts for the Illuftration of
Natural Hiftory, and fome additional Notes.

VOL. III.

LONDON:

Printed for the E D I T O R ;

And Sold by T. Lowndes, in Fleet-flreet.

MDCCLXXL

■>

f/:5"

^4-

PREFACE

OF THE

EDITOR.

I Could have left this volume v^ithout
preface, w^as it not for fome circum-
ftances, which I am going to mention.

The author of this account of Norths
America is a Swedcy and therefore feems
always to (hew a peculiar way of thinking
in regard to the Eng/iJJj in general, and in re-
gard to the firft proprietors and inhabitants
of Philadelphia in particular. The French,
the natural enemies of the Englifi, have,
for upwards of a century, been the allies of
the Swedes, who therefore are in general
more fond of them than of the Englijh,
The external politenei^ of the French in
a 2 Canada

tv PREFACE.

Canada fully captivated our author, pre-
judiced him In their favour, and alienated
his mind, though unjuftly, from the Eng-
lijh. I have therefore now and then, in
remarks* been obliged to do the Engliflo
juftice, efpecially when I faw the author
carried away cither by prejudice, mill n for-
mation, or ignorance. He pafled almofl
all the winter, between 1748 and 1749,
at Raccoon y and converfed there with his
countrymen ; when he came to Phila-
delphia he likewife was in the company of
the Sivedcs fettled there : thefe, no doubt,
furnifhed him with many partial and dif-
ingenuous accounts of the Englijhj and
gave his mind that unfavourable biafs
which he fo often difplays in prejudice of
a nation, now at the .head of the en-
lightened world, in regard to every reli-
gious, mora], and focial virtue. The
author frequently feems to throw an illi-
beral refied:ion on the firft proprietors of
Penjylvania, and the quakers ; though they
got that province not by force, but by a
charter from the Englijh government, to
whom the Swedes gave it up by virtue of
a public treaty. Prompted by fuch falfe

infi-
6

PREFACE. V

infinuations of his countrymen, he like-
wife enters very minutely into the eir-
cumftances of the Swedes, and often omits,
or mifreprefents, more important points,
relative to the legillator and father of Pen-

Jyha?iia, William Fenn, who gave that
province exiftence, laws, and reputation.
The accounts in the firft Volume, p. 3,2
and 33, 37, 42 ajid 46, feem to be found-
ed on fuch mifreprefentations. A pbih-

fopher fliould examine fuch accounts, hear
both parties, and emancipate himfelf from
narrownefs of mind and prejudice.

The author, however, often does juftice
to the excellent conftitution of Penfyhania,
as may be (Q^n Vol. I. p. 58, 59. and
likewife pag. 270^ 271.

The author fpeaks o^ Jlones attraBiwr
the 7noiJiure of the air-, fee Vol. J. p. 35; this
is fomewhat unphilofophically expreffed.
No flone attra(5ts the moiflure of the air,
unlefs impregnated with faline particles ;
however, when tlie ftones are colder than
the atmofphere, they then condenfe thq
moifture of the air on their furface : the

porous

vi PREFACE.

porous ftones abforb it immediately, but
thofe of a more fblid texture, as marbles,
&c. keep it on their furface till it evapo-
rates.

Page 2^. The author reprefents the
'w/jite cedar -wood as aim oft entirely de-
Jlroyed; though at prefent, above twenty
years after his account, it is fliU ufed in
Penfyhania, and quantities of it to be had,
Sufficient both for home confumption, and
exportation to the Wejl-India iflands.

Page 48. The river Delaware is called
one of the greatejl rhers in the world-,
here, I fuppofe, the author forgot a great
many its fuperiors.

For the tenor of the above remarks I
am indebted to a worthy friend and bene-
fadon

To the Errata of the firfl Volume muf!
be referred the following : page 117, note,
line 5, eafible, xtzd., feajible , P. 247, line
3 and 4, forty [even, read, feventy four.
V, 298, line 13, Originals, read, Orignah.

A

PREFACE. vii

A WORD more I mud add about the
American Fauna and Florae which I pro-
mifed in my propofals. The author,
who, as far as I know, Is flill living,
has not yet finifhed this work ; thefe
three volumes contain all that he has hi-
therto publifhed relative to Ame7-ica ; the
journal of a whole year's travelling, and
efpecially his expedition to the Iroquefe^
and fort Niagara, are ftill to comej which,
as foon as they appear, if Providence fpares
my life and health, and if my fituation
allows of it, I will tranflateinto EngUpy, and
there are fome hopes of obtaining the
original from the author. He like wife
often promifes, in the courfe of this work,
to publifh a great Lati7i work, concerning
the animals and plants of North- Anierica,
as far as he went through it ; which would
certainly make the fmall catalogue I could
make, ufelefs. It is likewife probable that
the defcription of the animal kingdom
will fall to the fhare of an abler pen than
mine.

I HERE take the opportunity of return-
irg my humble thanks to my friends,

who

via

PREFACE.

who have generoufly promoted this pub-
lication ; as without this public manner
of acknowledging their favours, I would
think myfelf guilty of ingratitude, which,
in my opinion, is one of the moft de-
teftable vices.

London,
febr. the i^th, ijyi.

PETER

-.- orii'ii-t of -^

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PETER KALM's
T RAVELS.

July the ifl. 1749.

AT day break we got up, and rowed
a good while before we got to the
place where we left the true road.
The country which we pafTed was the
pooreft and moft difagreeable imaginable.
We faw nothing but a row of amazing
high mountains covered with woods, fteep
and dirty on their lides; fo that we found it
difficult to get to a dry place, in order to
land and boil our dinner. In many places the
ground, which was very fmooth, was under
w*ater, and looked like the lides o^ouv Swedifi
morafles which are intended to be drained 5
for this reafon the Dutch in Albany call
thefe parts the Drowned Lands J^ Some of

• J)e 'verdronkem land(.n%

Vol. Ill, A the

2 July 1749.

the mountains run from S. S. W. to N. N.E.
and when they come to the river, they
form perpendicular fhores, and are full of
ilones of different magnitudes. The river
runs for the diftance of fome miles together
from fouth to north.

The wind blew north all day, and made
it very hard work for us to get forwards,
though we all rowed as hard as we could,
for our provilions were eaten to-day at
breakfaft. The river was frequently an
KngUfi mile and more broad, then it be-
came narrow again, and fo on alternately ;
but upon the whole it kept a good breadth,
and was furrounded on both fides by high
mountains.

About fix o'clock in the evening, wd
ai:rived at a point of land, about twelve
E/2g]iJh miles from Fort St. Frederic. Be-
hind this poin-t the river is converted into
a fpacious bay j and as the wind ilill kept
blowing pretty ftrong from the north, it
was impoffible for us to get forwards,
lince we were extremely weak. We were
therefore obliged to pafs the night here, in
fpite of the remonjlrances of our hungry
llomachs.

It is to be attributed to the peculiar
grace of God towards us that we met the
above menii<^fiQdFrenckm€?2 on our journey,

and

between the Forts Anne and St. Frederic. 3

and that they gave us leave to^take one of
their bark boats. It feldom happens once
in three years, that the French go this road
to Albany ; for they commonly pafs over
the lake St. Sacrement, or, as the Englijh
call it, lake George, which is the nearer and
better raad, and every body wondered why
they took this troublefome one. If we
had not got their large ftrongboat, and been
obliged to keep that which we had made,
we would in all probability have been very
ill off; for to venture upon the great bay
during the leaft wind with fo wretched a
veiTel, vvould have been a great piece of
temerity, and we fhould have been in
danger of being ftarved if we had waited
for a calm. For being without fire-arms^
and thefe deferts having but few quadrupeds,
wemuft have fubfifled upon frogs and fnakes,
which, (efpecially the latter) abound in thefe
parts. I canneverthinkof this journey, with-
out reverently acknowledging the peculiar
care and providence of the merciful Creator.
July the 2d. Early this morning we
fet out on our journey again, it being moon-
fhine and calm, and we feared left the
wind fhould change and become unfavour-
able to us if we Hopped any longer. We
all rowed as hard as poffible, and happily
arrived about eight in the morning at Fort
A 2 St.

4 >^ 1 749- -

St. Frederic, which the Engiip call Crown
Point. Monfieur Lufignan, the governor,
received us very politely. He was about
fifty years old, well acquainted with polite
literature, and had made feveral journies in-
to this country, by which he had acquired
an exa6l knowledge of feveral things relative
to its ftate.

I WAS informed that during the whole
of this fummer, a continual drought had
been here, and that they had not had any
rain lince laft fpring. The exceffive heat
had retarded the growth of plants; and on
all dry hills the grafs, and a vaft number of
plants, were quite dried up ; the fmall trees,
which grew near rocks, heated by the fun,
had withered leaves, and the corn in the
fields bore a very wretched afpedt. The
wheat had not yet eared, nor were the peafe
in blofibms. The ground was full of wide
and deep cracks, in which the little fnakes
retired and hid themfelves when purfued,
as into an impregnable afylum.

The country hereabout, it is faid, con-
tains vaft foreiis of firs of the white, black,
and red kind, which had been formerly ftill
more extenfive. One of the chief reafons of
their decreafe are, the numerous fires which
happen every year in the woods, through
tl^e careleffnefs of the Indians^ who fre-
quently

Fort St. Frederic, 5

qnently make great fires when they are
hunting, which fpread over the fir woods
when every thing is dry.

Great tfforts are made here for the
advancement o'i Natural Hijlory, and there
are few places in the world where fuch good
regulations are made for this ufeful purpofe,
all which is chiefly owing to the care and
zeal of a fingle perfon. From hence it
appears, how well a ufeful fcience is re-
ceived and fct off, when the leading men of
a country are its patrons. The governor of
the fort, was pleafed to fhew me a long
paper, which the then governor-general of
Canada^ the Marquis la GaliJJonniere had
fent him. It was the fame marquis, who
fome years after, as a French admiral, en-
gaged the EjtgliJJj fleet under admiral By?2g,
the confequence of which v/as the conquefl:
oi Minorca, In this'writing, a number of
trees and plants are mentioned, which grow
in North- America, and defer ve to be collect-
ed and cultivated on account of their ufeful
qualities. Some of them are defcribed,
among which, is the Polygala Senega, or
Rattle Snake-root', and with feveral of them
the places where they grow are mentioned.
It is further requefted that all kinds of feeds
and roots be gathered here ; and, to afljft
fuch an undertaking, a method of preferv-
A 3 ing

6 'July 1749*

ing the gathered feeds and roots, is pre-
fcribed, fo that they may grow, and be
fent to Paris. Specimens of all kinds of
minerals are required ; and all the places in
the Fre?ich fettlements are mentioned,
where any ufeful or remarkable ftone,
earth, or ore has been found. There is
likewife a manner of making obfervations
and colledions of curiofities in the animal
kingdom. To thefe requefts it is added, to
enquire and get information, in every pof-
iible manner, to what purpofe and in what
manner the Indians employ certain plants
and other produdions of nature, as medi-
cines, or in any other cafe. This ufeful
paper was drawn up by order of the
marquis la Galijfonnieret by Mr. Gaultier,
the royal phydcian at ^ebec, and after-
wards corre^ed and improved by the
marquis's own hand. He had feveral copies
made of it, which he fent to all the officers
in the forts, and likewife to other learned
men who travelled in the country. At the
end of the writing is an injundion to the
officers, to let the governor-general know,
which of the common foldiers had ufed the
greatefl diligence in the difcovery and collec-
tion of plants and other natural curiofities,
that he might be able to promote them, when
an opportunity occurred, to places adapted

to

Fort St, Frederic. 7

to their refpecfblve capacities, or to reward
them in any other manner. I found that
the people of diftin(ftion, in general here,
had a much greater tafte for natural hiilory
and other parts of literaturej than in the
Englifi colonies, where it was every body's
fole care and employment to fcrape a for-
tune together, and v;here the fciences were
held in univerfal contempt.* It was ftill
A 4 complained

* It feems Mr. Kahn has forgotten his own afTertions in
the firfl: volume. Dr. Colden, Dr. Franklin, and Mr. Bartram,
have been the great promoters and invefligators of nature ia
this country; and how would tKe inhabitants of Old Erg'
/<3*i/have gotten the fine colleftions of I'crth-Jmerican trees,
flirubs, and plants, which grow at prefent almoft in every
garden, and are as if it wpre roturalized in Old England^
had they not been aflilled by their friends, and by the
curious in North- America. One need only cail an eye on
Dr. Linnaus's new edition of his Syfiema, and tl|e repeated
mention of Dr. Garden^ in order to be convin(?ed that the
Englijh in America have contributed a grca:er iliare towards
promoting natural hiilory, than any nation u^ider heaven,
and certainly more than the Fr^ cb, though their learned
men are often handfomely penfioned by their great Monarine :
on the other hand the Englijh ftudy that branch of know-
ledge, from the fole motive of its utility, and the plea-
fure it affords to a thinking being, without any of thofe
mercenary views, held forth to the learned of other
countries. And as to the other parts o/ literature, the Englih
in America are undoubtedly fuperior to the French in Canadut
witnefs the many ufeful inllitutions, colleges, and fchnols
founded in the Englip colonies in h'orlh-Ameica^ and (o
many very confiderable libraries now crofting in this
country, which contain fuch a clioice ot ufeful and cu ious
books, as were vety little known in Cufiada, before li tell
into the hands of the Enghfbx not to mention the produc-
tions of original genius written \j-^ Americans born. F.

S 'July 1749.

complained of here, that thofe who fludled
natural hiftory, did not fufficiently enquire
into the medicinal ufe of the plants of
Canada.

The French^ who are born in France,
are faid to enjoy a better health in Canada
than in their native country, and to attain
to a greater age, than the Fre?2ch born in
Canada. I was likewife affured that the
European Frenchmen can do more work,
and perform more journies in winter,
without prejudice to their health, than
thofe born In this country. The inter-
mitting fever which attacks the Europeans
on their arrival in Penfyhaniay and Vv'hich
as it were makes the climate familiar to
them,* is not known here, and the people
are as well after their arrival as before.
The Englijld have frequently ohferved, that
thofe who are born in America of European
parents, can never bear fea-voyages, and go
to the different parts of South A}7ierica, as
well as thofe born in Europe. The French
born in Canada have the fameconftitutions;
and when any of them go to the Weji-
India iflands, fuch as Martinique, Domingo,
&c. and make fome ftay there, they com-
monly fall fick and die foon after : thofe

* See Vol. I. p. 364.

who

who fall III there feldom recover, unlefs
they are brought back to Canada. On the
contrary, thofe who go from France to thofe
iilands can more eafily bear the climate,
and attain a great age there, which I heard
confirmed in many parts o^ Canada. .

July the 5th. Whilst we were at dinner,
v/ekveral times heard a repeated difagreeable
outcrv, at fome diftance from the fort, in
the river Woodcreek: Mr. Liifignan, the
governor, told us this cry was no good
omen, becaufe he could conclude from it
that the Indians, whom we efcaped near
fort A?ine, had completed their defign of
revenging the death of one of their brethren
upon the Englifoy and that their (liouts
fhewed that they had killed an EngUfiman,
As foon as I came to the window, I faw
their boat, with a long pole at one end, on
the extremity of vvhich they had put a blood v
fkull. As foon as they were landed, we heard
that they, being fix in number, had con-
tinued their journey (from the place where
we had marks of their paffing the night),
till they had got within the Englijh boun-
daries, where they found a man and his
fon employed in mowing the corn. They
crept on towards this man, and {hot him
dead upon the fpot. This happened near the
very village, where the EngUfldy two years

before.

lo "July 1749.

before, killed the brother of one of thefe
Indians, who were then gone out to attack
them. According to their cuftom they cut
cfFthe llcull of the dead man, and took it
with them, together with his clothes and
his fon, who was about nine years old.
As foon as they came within a mile of fort
St. Frederic, they put the lliuU on a pole, in
the fore part of the boat, and fliouted, as a
fign of their fuccefs. They were dreffed
in Ibirts, as ufual, but fome of them had
put on the dead man's clothes i one his coat,
the other his breeclies, another his hat,
&c. Their faces were painted with Ver-
million, with which their fhirts were
marked acrofs the flioulders. Moft of
them had great rings in their ears, which
feemed to be a great inconvenience to them,
as they were obliged to hold them when
they leaped, or did any thing which re-
quired a violent motion. Some of them
had girdles of the il^ins o^ Rattle-fnakes,
with the rattles on them j the fon of the
murdered man had nothing but his (liirt,
breeches and cap, and the L^dians had
marked his fhoulders with red. When
they got on fhore, they took hold of the
pole on which the llcuU was put, and
danced and fung at the fame time. Their
view in taking the boy, was to carry him to

their

Fort St. Frederic. ii

their habitations, to educate hiai inftead
of their dead brother, and afterwards to
m^rry hini to one of their relations. Not-
withflanding they had perpetrated this ad:
of violence in time of peace, contrary to
the command of the governor in Montreal,
and to the advice of the governor of
St. Fredericy yet the latter could not at
prefent deny them provifions, and what-?
ever they wanted for their journey, becaufe
he did not think it advifeable to exafperate
them ; but when they came to Montreah
the governor called them to account for
this adion, and took the boy from them,
whom he afterwards fent to his relations :
Mr. LiifjgJian afked them, what they
would have done to me and my com-
panions, if they had met us in the defert ?
They replied, that as it was their chief in-
tention to take their revenge on the FngUJh-
7nen in the village where their brother was
killed, they would have let us alone ^ but
it much depended on the humour they
were in, jafl at the time when we firft
came to their fight. However, the com-
mander and all the Frenchmen faid, that
what had happened to me was infinitely
fafer and better.

Some years agoafkeleton of an amazing
great animal had been found in that part of

Canada

12 July 1749.

Canada, where the Illinois live. One of
the lieutenants in the fort affured me, that
he had ktn it. The Indians^ who were
there, had found it in a fwamp. They were
furprifed at the fight of it, and when they
were afked, what they thought it was ?
They anfwered that it mull be the fkeleton
of the chief or father of all the beavers.
It was of a prodigious bulk, and had
thick white teeth, about ten inches long.
It was looked upon as the flceleton of an'
elephant. The lieutenant afiured me that
the figure of the whole fnout was yet to be
itcn, though it was half mouldered. He
added, that he had not obferved, that any
of the bones were taken aw^y, but thought
the ikcletcn lay quite perfeil there. I have
heard people talk of this monftrous fkele-
ton in feveral other parts o^ Canada"^'.

Bears are plentiful hereabouts, and they
kept a young one, about three months old,
at the fort. He had perfedly the fame
ihape, and qualities, as our common bears
in Europe, except the ears, which feemed
to be longer in proportion, and the hairs
which v/ere lliffer -, his colour was deep

brown.

* The country of the I'ilmois is on the river OhiOf near
tne place where the Eugl.Jh have found fome bones, fup-
pofed 'to belong to elephants. See Vol. L p. 135. in the
Bote.

Fort St. Frederic. 13

brown, almofl black. He played and
wreftled every day with one of the dogs.
A vafl number of bear-fkins are annually
exported to France from Canada. The hi-
dians prepare an oil from beat's greafe,
with which in fummer they daub their
face, hands, and all naked parts of their
body, to fecure them from the bite of the
gnats. ¥/ith this oil they likewife fre-
quently fmear the body, when they are ex-
cellively cold, tired with labour, hurt, and
in other cafes. They believe it foftens the
jQcin, and makes the body pliant, and is
very ferviceable to old age.

The common Dandelion [Leontodon Ta-
raxacum Linn.) grows in abundance on the
paftures and roads between the fields, and
was now in flower. In fpring when the
young leaves begin to come up, the French
dig up the plants, take their roots*, waih
them, cut them, and prepare them as a
common fallad ; but they have a bitter tafle.
It is not ufuai here to make ufe of the leaves
for eating.

July the 6th. The foldiers, which had
been paid off after the war, had built hou-
fes round the fort, on the grounds allotted

to

* In France t\\s young hlanclied leaves, which fcarcepeep
out of molehills, and have yet a yellow colour, are umv?r-
fally eaten as a f.-.llaJ, uader the r.ame oi Pijenlit. F.

to them ', but mofl: of thefe habitations were
no more than wretched cottages, no better
than thofe in the mod wreched places of
Sivederr, with that difference, however, that
their inhabitants here were rarely oppref-
fed by hunger, and could eat good and
pure wheat bread. The huts which they
had ere(fled confifled of boards, llanding
perpendicularly clofe to each other. The
roofs were of wood too. The crevices were
flopped up with clay, to keep the room
warm. The floor was commonly clay, or
a black limefl:one, which is common here.
The hearth vvas built of the fame ftone, ex-
cept the place were the fire was to ]y,
which was made of grey fandftones, which
for the greateft part confifl of particles of
quartz. In foaie hearths, the ftones quite
clofe to the fire-place werelimeftonesj how-
ever, I was affured that there was no danger
of fire, efpecialiy if the fiones, which were
mod expofed to the heat, were of a large
fize. They had no glafs in their windows.
July the 8 th. The Galium tinBorlum is
called Tifavojatme rouge by the French
throughout all Canada^ and abounds in the
woods round this place, growing in a moid
but fine foil. The roots of this plant are
employed by the Indians in dying the quills
Qi l\iQ A??i erica?! porcupines red, which they

put

Fort St. Frederic. 15

put Into feveral pieces of their work ; and
air, fun, or water feldom change this colour.
The French women in Canada fometimes
dye their clothes red with thefe roots, which
are but fmall, like thofe of Galium luteunii
or yellow bedflraw.

The horfes are left out of doors during
the winter, and find their food in the woods,
living upon nothing but dry plants, which
are very abundant -, however they do not
fall off by this food, but look very fine and
plump in fpring.

July the 9th. The fkeleton of a whale
was found fome French miles from ^lebec,
and one French mile from the river St,
Laurence, in a place where no flowing wa-
ter comes to at prefent. This fkeleton has
been of a very confiderable fize, and the
governor of the fort faid, he had fpoke with
feveral people who had feen it.

July the loth. The boats which are
here made ufe of, are of three kinds.
I, Bark-boats, made of the bark of trees,
and of ribs cf wood. 2. Canoes, co;.Ji...ing
of a fingle piece of wood, hollowed out,
which I have already defcribed before *.
They are here made cf the white fir, and
of different fizes. They are not brought

* See Vd. IL

for-

1 6 July S749-

forward by rowing, but by paddling i by
whicb method not half the ftrength can be
applied; which is made ufe of in rowing;
and afingle man might, I think, row as fad
as two of them could paddle. 3. The
third kind of boats are Bateaux, They
are always made very large here, and em-
ployed for large cargoes. They are flat
bottomed, and the bottom is made of the
red, but more commonly of the whitq oak^
which redPcs better, when it runs againft a
ftone, than other wood. The fides are
made of the white fir, becaufe oak would
make the Bateau too heavy. They make
plenty of tar and pitch here.

The foldiery enjoy fuch advantages here,
ss they are not allowed in every part of
the world. Thofe who formed the gar-
rifon of this place, had a very plentiful al-
lowance from their government. They get
everyday a pound and a half of vv'heat bread,
which is almoft more than they can eat.
They likewife get peafe, bacon, and fait
meat in plenty. Sometimes they kill oxen
and other cattle, the flcili of which is dif-
tributed among the foldiers. All the offi-
cers kept cows, at the expence of the king,
and the milk they gave was more than fuf-
ficient to fupply them. The foldiers had
each a fmall garden without the fort, which

they

Fort St, Frederic. 1 7

they were allowed, to attend, and plant in it
whatever they liked, and fome of them h?.d
built fummer-houfes in them, and plant-
ed all kind of pot-herbs. The governor
told me, that it was a general cuftom to
allow the foldiers a fpot of ground for kit-
chen-gardens, at fuch of the French forts
hereabouts as were not fituated near great
towns, from whence they could be fup-
plied with greens. In time of peace the
foldiers have very little trouble with being
upon guard at the fort ; and as the lake
clofe by is full of fifh, and the woods abound
with birds and animals, thofe amongft them
who choofe to be diligent, may live extreme-
ly well, and very grand in regard to food.
Each foldier got a new coat every two years 5
but annually, a waiftcoat, cap, hat, breeches,
cravat, two pair of ftockings, two pair of
fhoes, and as much wood as he had occa-
fion for in winter. They likewife got five
fols* a piece every day ; which is augment-
ed to thirty fols when they have any parti-
cular labour for the king. When this is
confidered, it is not furprifing to find the
men are very frefh, well fed, firong and
lively here. When a foldier falls fick he
is brought to the hofpital, where the king
Vol, III. B pro-

* Ayo/in France is about the value of one half penny
A.erling,

provides him with a bed, food, medicines^
and people to take care of, and ferve him.
When fome of them aiked leave to be ab-
fent for a day or tvi^o, to go abroad, it was
generally granted them, if circumftances
would permit, and they enjoyed as iifual
their fliare of proviHons and money, but
were obliged to get fome of their comrades
to mount the guard for them as often as it
came to their turns, for which they gave
them an equivalent. The governor and
officers were duly honoured by the fol-
diers 3 however, the foldiers and officers of-
ten fpoke together as comrades, without
any ceremonies, and with a very becoming
freedom. The foldiers who are fent hi-
ther from France, commonly ferve till they
are forty or fifty years old, after which they
are difmiffed and allowed to fettle upon^,
and cultivate a piece of ground. But if
they have agreed on their arrival to ferve
no longer than a certain number of years^
they are difmilTed at the expiration of their
term. Thofe who are born here, com-
monly agree to ferve the crown during fix,
eight, or ten years; after which they are
difmilTcd, and fet up for farmers in the
country. The king prefents each difmiffed
foldier with a piece of land, being com-
monly

Fort St. Frederic 19

inonly 40 arpens^long and bat three broad,
if the foil be of equal goodnefs throughout;
but they get fomev»^hat more, if it be a
worfe ground -f-. As foon as a foldler fet-
tles to cultivate fuch a piece of land, he is
at firfl affifted by the king, who fupplies
himfelf, his v/ife and children, with provi-
fions, during the three or four firfl years.
The king likewife gives him a cow, and
the moft neceffary inftram.ents for agricul-
ture. Some foldiers are fent to affiil: him
in building a houfe, for which the king
pays them. Thefe are great helps to a poor
man, who begins to keep houfe, and it
feems that in a country where the troops
are fo highly diflingulflied by the royal fa-
vour, the king cannot be at a lofs for foldiers.
For the better cultivation and population of
Canada, a plan has been propofed fome
years ago, for fending 300 men over from
France every year, by which means the
B 2 old

* An Jr/>^nt m France coniRics loo Froici? psiches, and
each of thofe 22 French feet ; then the French foot being
to tkie. Engl-p as 1440 to 1352, an arpent is about 2346
Englijh feet and 8 inches long. See Orao7inanciS de Louis
XU'./ur lefait des Eaiix ^ Forets. Paris, 1687. p. 1 1 2. F.

f Mr, Kalm fays, in his original, that the length of an ar-
peut was fo df;termined, that they reckoned 84 of them in
a French lieue or league; but as this does by no means
agree with the ftatute arpent of i^r/2«f^, which by order of
king Lezvis XIF, was fixed at 2200 feet, Parii meafure,
(fee the preceding note) we thought proper to leave it out
of the text. F.

20 "July 1749.

old foldlers may always be dirmiffed, marry^
and fettle in the country. The land which
was allotted to the foldiers about this place,
was very good, confifting throughout of a
deep mould, mixed with clay.

yuly the iith. The harrows which
they make ufe of here are made entirely of
wood, and of a triangular form. The
ploughs feemed to be lefs convenient. The
wheels upon which the plough-beam is
placed, are as thick as the wheels of a
cart, and all the wood-work is fo clumfily
made that it requires a horfe to draw the
plough along a fmooth field.

RocK-sTONES of different forts lay feat-
tered on the fields. Some were from three
to five feet high, and about three feet
broad. They were pretty much alike in
regard to the kind of the (lone, however, I
obferved three different fpecies in them.

I. Some confifted of a quartz, whofe
colour refembled fugar candy, and which
was mixed with a black fmall grained glim-
mer, a black horn-fione, and a few minute
grains of a brown fpar. The quartz was
moll: abundant in the mixture j the glim-
mer was likewife in great quantity, but the
fpar was inconfiderable. The feveral kinds
of Hones were well mixed, and though the
eye could diftinguiQi them, yet no inftru-

mcnt

Fort St. Frederic. 21

raent could feparate them. The {lone was
very hard and compad:, and the grains of
quartz looked very line.

2. Some pieces ccnfifted of grey parti-
cles of quartz, black glimmer, and horn-
flone, together with a few particles of fpar,
which made a very clofe, hard, and com-
pad: mixture, only differing from the for-
mer in colour.

3. A few of the flones confifted of a
mixture of white quartz and black glim-
mer, to which fome red grains of quartz
were added. The fpar (quartz) was moft
predominant in this mixture, and the glim-
mer appeared in large flakes. This ftone
was not fo well mixed as the former, and
was by far not fo hard and fo compact,
being eafily pounded.

The mountains on which fort St. Fre-
deric is built, as likewife thofe on which
the above kinds of ftone are found, confifted
generally of a deep black lime-ftone, lying
in lamellae as flates do, and it might be
called a kind of flates, which can be turn-
ed into quicklinie by fire *. This lime-
ftone is quite black in the inflde, anc^,
when broken, appears to be of an exceed-
B 3 ing

* Marmor fchiftofum, Linn. Syft. III. p. 40. Marmor u^
nicclor nigrum. Wal'. Min, pag. 61. n. 2. Lime-Jlate! ,fckijlut
^akaniiSx> Forft. Inttod. to iViin. p. 9. F.

2 2 July 1749.

ing fine texture. There are fome grains
of a dark fpar fcattered in it, which, to-
gether with fome other inequalities, form,
veins in it. The flrata which ly upper-
moftinthemountains confiftof a grey lime-
flone, v.'hich is feemingly no more than a
variety of the preceding. The black lime-
flone is conftantly found filled with petre-
fadions of all kinds^ and chiefly the fol-
lowing :

PeBinites^ or petrefied OJirec^ PeBines,
Thefe petrefied lliells were more abundant
than any others that have been found here,
and fometimes whole flrata are met with,
confiding merely of a quantity of fliells of
this fort, grown together. They are gene-
rally fmall, never exceeding an inch and a
half in length. They are found in two
different ftates of petrefaclioni one {l;iews
always the impreffions of ttie elevated and
hollow furfaces of the (hells, without any
veftige of the {hells themfelves. In the
other appears the real (liell flicking in the
ftone, and by its light colour is eafily dif=
tinguifhable from the ilone. Both thefe
kinds are plentiful in the flone j however,
the impreiiions are more in number than
the real fhells. Some of the fliells are very
elevated, efpecially in the middle, where
;hey form as it were a hump j others again

are

Tort St, Frederic. 23

are deprelTed iii the middle ; but In mod
of them the outward furface is remarkably
elevated. The furrows always run longi-
tudinally, or from the top, diverging to the
margin.

Fetrejied Cor?iua Ammonis. Thefe are
likewife frequently found, but not equal
to the former in number : like the peBi-
nltce, they are found really petrefied, and in
impreffions ; amongfl them were fome pe-
trefied fnails. Some of thefe Cornua Am-
monis were remarkably big, and I do not
remember feeing their equals, for they
meafured above two feet in diameter.

Different kinds of corals could be
plainly feen in, and feparated from, the
itone in which they lay. Some were white
and ramofe, or Lithophytes ; others were
flarry corals, qv Madrepores ; the latter were
rather fcarce.

I MUST give the name of Stone-balls to
a kind of ftones foreign to me, which are
found in great plenty in fome of the rock-
fiones. They were globular, one half of
them projecting generally above the rock,
and the other remaining in it. They con-
fid of nearly parallel fibres, which arife from
the bottom as from a center, and fpread
over the furface of the ball and have a grey
•colour. The outfide of the balls is fmooth,
B 4 bat

but has a number of fmall pores, which t%-^
ternally appear to be covered with a pale
grey cruft. They are from an inch to an
inch and a half in diameter.

Amongst fome other kinds of fand,
U'hich are found on the fhores of lake
Champlain, two were very peculiar, and
commonly lay in the fame place \ the one
"Was black, and the other reddilli brown,
or granite coloured.

The black fand always lies uppermoft*
conlifts of very fine grains, which, when
examined by a microfcope, appear to have a
dark blue colour, like that of a fmooth
iron, not attacked by ruft. Some grains
8re roundilh, but mofl of them angularj
with iliining furfaces -, and they fparkle
when the fun fhines. All the grains of
this fand without exception are attra(fled
by the magnet. Amongft thefe black or
deep blue grains, they meet with a few
grainsofa red or garnet coloured fand, which
is the fame with the red fand which lies
immediately under it, and which I fhall
now defcribe. This red or garnet coloured
fand is very fine, but not fo fine as the
black fand. Its grains not only participate
of the colour of garnets, but they are really
nothing but pounded garnets. Some grains
aie round, others angulated ; all lliine and

ar€

I^rt St. Frederic, ^5

are femipellucid ; but the magnet has no
^ffcO: on them, and they do not fparkle To
much in funfliine. This red fand is feidoni
found very pure, it being commonly mixed
with a white fand, confifting of particles of
quartz. The black and red fand is not
found in every part of the fhore, but only
in a few places, in the order before men-
tioned. The uppermoft or black fand lay
about a quarter of an inch deep; when it
was carefully taken off, the fand under it be-
came of a deeper red the deeper it lay, and
its depth was commonly greater than that of
the former. When this was carefully taken
away, the white fand of quartz appeared
mixed very much at top with the red fand,
but growing purer the deeper it lay. This
white fand was above four inches deep,
had round grains, which made it entirely
like a pearl fand. Below this was a pale
grey angulated quartz fand. In fome places
the garnet coloured fand lay uppermoft,
and this grey angulated one immediately
under it, without a grain of either the black
or the white fand.

I CANNOT determine the origin of the
black or fteel-coloured fand, for it was not
known here whether there were iron mines
j-n the neighbourhood or not. But I am
rather inclined to believe they may be found

in

26 'July 174.9,

in thefe parts, as they are common in ^'i^^
ferent parts of C'^;2^^.cz, and- as this fand is
found on the fhores of almoft all the lakes,
and rivers in Canada, though not in equal
quantities. The red or garnet coloured
fand has its origin hereabouts ; for though
the rocks near fort St. Frederic contained
no garnets, yet there are (tones of different
iizes on the fhores, quite different from
the flones which fonn thofe rocks j thefe
ftones'are very full of grains of garnets, and
when pounded there is no perceptible dif-
ference between them and the red fand. I'd
the more northerly parts of Canada, or be-
low ^lebec, the mountains themfelves con-
tain eat number of garnets. The gar-
De jred fand is very common on the

iliores of the river St. Laurence, I fhall
leave out feveral obfervations which I made
upon the minerals hereabouts, as uninte-
refling to mofl of my readers.

The Apocymim andrGfamifolimn grows
in abundance on hills covered with trees,
and is in full flower about this time ; the
French call it Her be a la puce. When the
flalk is cut or tore, a white milky juice
comes out. The French attribute the fame
qualities to this plant, which the poifon-
zree, or Khus '^jernix^ has in the Engiijh colo-
nics ; that its poifon is noxious to fomc

per-

Fort St. Frederic. 27

perfons, and harmlefs to others. The milky
juice, when fpread upon the hands and
body, has no bad effcd: on Tome perfons 5
whereas others cannot come near it with-
out being bhftered. I faw a foldier whofe
hands were bhftered all over, merely by
plucking the plant, in order to {hew it
mcj and it is faid its exhalations aftedt
fome people, when they come within reach
of them. It is generally allowed here, that
the lacSefcent juice of this plant, when
fpread on any part of the human body not
only fwells the part, but frequently cor-
rodes the fkin; at leaft there are few exam-
ples of perfons on whom it had no effedr.
As for my part, it has never hi ^' >?ie,
though in prefence of feveral f^9p I' I
touched the plant, and rubbed my hands
with the juice till they were white all over;
and I have often rubbed the plant in my
hands till it was quite cruQied, without
feeling the leaft inconvenience, or change
on my hand. The cattle never touch this
plant.

July the 1 2th. Burdock, or ArBlum
Lappa, grows in feveral places about the
fort ; and the governor told me, that its
tender fhoots are eaten in fpring as rad-
difhes, after the exterior peel is taken eft".

The Sifon Canadenfe abounds in the

woods

aS "July 1749'

woods of all North- America. The French
call it cerfeuilfauvage, and make ufe of it
in fpring, in green ibiips, like chervil. It
is univerfally praifed here as a wholefome,
antifcorbutic plant, and as one of the befl
which can be had here in fpring.

The Afclepias Syriaca^ or, as the French
call it, le Cotoniery grows abundant in the
country, on the fides of hills which
]y near rivers and other fituations, as well
in a dry and open place in the woods, as
in a rich, loofe foil. When the ftalk is
cut or broken it emits a lacflefcent juice,
and for this reafon the plant is reckoned
in fome degree poifonous. The French
in Canada neverthelefs ufe its tender fhoots
in fpring, preparing them like afparagus i
and the ufe of them is not attended with
any bad confequences, as the flender fhoots
have not yet had time to fuck up any
thing poifonous. Its flowers are very odo-
riferous, and, when in feafon, they fill the
woods with their fragrant exhalations, and
make it agreeable to travel in them; efpe-,
cially in the evening. The French in Ca^
nada make a fugar of the flowers, which
for that purpofe are gathered in the morn-
ing, when they are covered all over with
dew. This dew is exprefTed, and by boil-
ing yields a very good brown, palatable

fugar.

Fort St. Frederic. 2g

fugar. The pods of this plant when ripe
contain a kind of wool, which enclofes
the feed, and refembles cotton, from whence
the plant has got its French name. The
poor colled: it, and fill their beds, efpecially
their children's, with it inftead of feathers.
This plant flowers in Canada at the end of
yime and beginning of July, and the feeds
are ripe in the middle of September. The
horfes never eat of this plant.

yidy the i6th. This morning I crolTed
lake Champlain to the high mountain on
its weflern fide, in order to examine the
plants and other curiofities there. From
the top of the rocks, at a little diftance
from fort St. Frederic, a row of very high
mountains appear on the weftern fhore of
lake Champlain, extending from fouth to
north ; and on the eafiern fide of this lake
is another chain of high mountains, running
in the fame diredion. Thofe on the eaftern
fide are not clofe to the lake, being about
ten or twelve miles from it ; and the coun-
try between it and them is low and flat,
and covered with woods, which likewife
clothe the mountains, except in fuch places,
as the fires, which deflroy the forefls here,
have reached them and burnt them down.
Thefe mountains have generally fteep fides,
but fometimcs they ar? found gradually

Hoping,

30 "July 1749.

Hoping. We croiTed the lake in a canoe,
•which could only contain three perfons,
and as foon as we landed we walked from
the fliore to the top of the mountains.
Their lides are very fteep, and covered with
a mould, and fome great rock-ftones lay on
them. All the mountains are covered with
trees ; but in fome places the forefts have
been deftroyed by fire. After a great deal
of trouble we reached the top of one of
the mountains, which was covered with a
riufty mould. It was none of the higheft^
and fome of thofe which were at a greater
diftance were much higher, but we had
no time to go to them ; for the wind en-
creafed, and our boat was but a little one.
We found no curious plants, or any thing
remarkable here.

When we returned to the iliore we
found the wind rifen to luch a height, that
we did not venture to crofs the lake in cur
boat, and for that reafon I left the fellow
to bring it back, as foon as the wind fub-
iided, and walked round the bay, which
was a walk of about {&vtx\ Engiifi miles.
I was followed by my fervant, and for want
of a road, we kept cloie to the fhore where
we pafled over mountains and iharp flones ;
through thick forefts and deep marches, all
which were known to be inhabited by

num-

Fo7't St. Frederic, %t

numberlefs rattle-fnakes, of which we hap-
pily faw none at all. The (hore is very
full of flones in feme places, and covered
with large angulated rock-ftones, which are
fometimes roundifh, and their edges as it
were worn off. Now and then we met
with a fmall fandy fpot, covered with
grey, but chiefly with the fine red fand
which I have before mentioned ; and the
black iron fand likewife occurred fome-
times. We found flones of a red glimmer
of a fine texture, on the mountains. Some-
times thefe mountains with the trees on
them flood perpendicular with the water-
fide, but in feme places the fhore was
marfhy.

I SAW a number of pctrefied Cornua
Ammonis in one place, near the fhore, among
a number of flones and rocks. The rocks
confifl of a grey limeflione, which is a va-
riety of the black one, and lies in flrata^
as that does. Some of them contain a
number of petrefadions, with and without
fliells ; and in one place we found pro-
digious large Cor?2ua Ammonis^ about twen-
ty inches in breadth. In fome places the
water had wore off the uone, but could
not have the fame effedt on the petrefac-
tions, which lay elevated above, and in a
manner glued on the flones.

The

32 July 1749.

The mountains near the (hore are amaz«
ingly high and large, confining of a com«
pad: grey rock-ftone, which does not ly in
flrata as the lime-flone, and the chief of
whofe conftituent parts are a grey quartz,
and a dark glimmer. This rock-flone reach-
ed down to the water, in places where the
mountains flood clofe to the fliore ; but
where they were at fome diftance from it,
they were fupplied by ftrata of grey
and black lime-llone, which reached to the
water fide, and which 1 never have feen
covered with the grey rocks.

The Zizania aquatica grows in mud,
and in the moft rapid parts of brooks, and
is in full bloom about this time.

July the 17th. The dillempers which
rage among the Indians are rheumatifms and
pkiirifies^ which arife from their being
obliged frequently to ly in moift parts of
the woods at night y from the fudden
changes of heat and cold, to which the air
is expofed here j and from their being fre-
quently loaded v/ith too great a quantity
of ftrong liquor, in which cafe they com-
monly \y down naked in the open air,
without any regard to the feafon, or the
weather. Thefe didempers, efpecially the
pleurifies, are likewife very common among
ihe French herej and the governor told ms

Port St. Frederic. 3j

he had once had a very violent fit of the
latter, and that Dr. Sarrafm had cured
hinn in the following manner, which has
been found to fucceed bt-fl here. He gave
him fudorifics, which were to operate be-
tween eight and ten hours ; he was then
bled, and the fudorifics repeated j he was
bled again, and that efFedually cured him.

Dr. Sarrafm was the royal phylician at
^.ebeCi and a correfpondent of the royal
academy of fciences at Paris. He was pof-
fefTed of great knowledge in the practice
of phyfic, anatomy, and other fciences, and
^'ery agreeable in his behaviour. He died
at ^lebec, of a malignant fever^ which had
been brought to that place by a fhip, and
with which he was infedled at an hofpital,
where he vifited the fick. He left a fon, who
likewife ftudied phyfic, and went io France
to make himfelf more perfed; in the prac-
tical part of it, but he died there.

The intermitting fevers fometimes come
amongfl; the people here, and the venereal
difeafe is common here. The Indians are
likewife infevlted with it ; and many of
them have had it, and fome fiill have itj
but they likewife are perfecftly poflelTcd of
the art of curing it. There are examples
of Frenchmen and Indians^ inferred all over
the body with this difeafe, who havebeen ra-

Vol. III. C 4ically

34 "J'^b ^749-

dically and perfedly cured by the Indians,
within five or fix months. The French have
not been able to find this remedy out; though
they know that the Indians employ no micr-
cury, but that their chief remedies are roots,
which are unknown \.o\}i\^ French. I have
afterwards heard what thefe plants were,
and given an account of them at large to
the royal SwediJJj academy of fciences *.

¥/e are very well acquainted in Swc
den with the pain caufed by the Iceniay
or a kind of worms. They are lefs abun-
dant in the Britifi North- American colo-
nie-s ; but in Canada they are very frequent.
Sofiie of thefe worms, which have been
evacuated by a perfon, have been feveral
yards long. It is not known, whether the
Indians are afHidsd with them, or not. No
particular remedies againft them are known
here, and no one can give an account from
whence they come, though the eating of
fome fruits contributes, as is conjedured,
to create them.

yuly the 19th. Fort St. Frederic is a
fortification, on the Ibuthern extremity of
lake Champiain, fituated on a neck of land,
between that lake and the river, which arifes

from

* See the Memoirs of that Academy, for the year 1750.
page 284.

The StiUingia Sjhatica is probably one of thefe roots. F.

Vorf St, Frederic, 35

from the un ion ofihe river /Fo^^av<?i, and Jake
St. Sacrement. The breadth of this river
is here about a good mulTcet Ihot. The
EngliJJj call this fortrefs Crovjnpointy but
its French name is derived from the French
fecretary of fbate, Frederic Maurepas, in
whofe hands the dire6lion and management
of the French court of admiralty was, at
the time of the eredtion of this fort : for
it is to be obferved, that the government
oi Canada is fuhjed: to the court of admi-
ralty in France, and the governor-gene-
ral is always chofen out of that court.
As moft of the places in Canada bear the
names of faints, cuftom has made it necef^
fary to prefix the word Saint to the name
of the fortrefs. The fort is built on a rock,
confiftingof black lime-flates, as afore faid ;
it is nearly quadrangular, has high and
thick walls, made of the fame lime-ftone,
of which there is a quarry about half a mile
from the fort. On the eaftern part of the
fort, is a high tower, which is proof a-
gainft bombihells, provided with very thick
and fubftaniial walls, and well ftored with
cannon, from the bottom almoft to the very
top; and the governor lives in the tower. In
the terre-plein of the fort is a well built
little church, and houfes of (lone for the
officers and foldicrs. There are fharp rocks
C 2 on

36 "July 1749.

on all fides towards the land, beyond a
cannon-fhot from the fort, but among them
are fome which are as high as the walls of
the fort, and very near them.

The foil about fort St. Frederic is faid
to be very fertile, on both fides of the river;
and before the lafl war a great many French
families, efpecially old foldiers, have fettled
there ; but the king obliged them to go into
Canaddi or to fettle clofe to the fort, and
to ly in it at night. A great number of
them returned at this time, and it was
thought that about forty or fifty families
would go to fettle here this autumn. With-
in one or two muiket-fliots to the eaft of
the fort, is a wind-mill, built of ftone with
very thick walls, and moft of the flour
which is wanted to fupply the fort is ground
here. This wind-mill is fo contrived, as to
ferve the purpofc of a redoubt, and at the
top of it are five or fix fmall pieces of can-
non. Daring the laft war, there was a
number of foldiers quartered in this mill,
becaufe they could from thence look a great
way up the river, and obferve whether the
Ejiglifi boats approached ; which could
not be done from the fort itfelf, and
which was a matter of great confequence,
as the Englijh might (if this guard had not
been placed here) have gone m their little

boats

Fort St. Fred€rk. 37

boats clofe under the weftern fhore of the
river, and then the hills would have pre-
vented their being {t^x\ from the fort.
Therefore the fort ought to have been
built on the fpot where the mill ftands,
and all thofe who come to fee it, are im-
mediately ftruck with the abfurdity of its
fituation. If it had been eredled in the
place of the mill, it would have com-
manded the river, and prevented the ap-
proach of the enemy -, and a fmall ditch
cut through the loofe limeflone, from the
river (which comes out of the lake St.
Sacrement) to lake Champlain, would have
furrounded the fort with flowing water,
becaufe it would have been fituated on the
extremity of the neck of land. In that
cafe the fort would always have been fuf-
ficiently fupplied with frefli water, and at
a diftance from the high rocks, which fur-
round it in its prefent fitaation. We
prepared to-day to leave this place, having
waited during fome days for the arrival oi
the yacht, which plies conftantly all fummer
between the forts St. John^ and St.ivWtr/V.-
during our ftay here, we had received many
favours. The governor of the fort, Mr.
L^lfignariy a. man of learning and of great

* Saint Jean.

'^^ C 3 polite-

3^ J4 ^749-

politenefs, heaped obligations upon us, and
treated us with as much civihty as if we
had been his relations. I had the honor
of eating at his tabls during my flay here,
and my fervant was allowed to eat with his.
"We had our rooms, &c. to ourfelves, and
at our departure the governor fupplied us
with ample provifions for our journey to
fort St. 'John. In fhort, he did us more
favours than we could have expe(fled from
our own countrymen, and the officers were
likewife particularly obliging to us.

About eleven o'clock in the morning
we fet out, with a fair wind. On both
fides of the lake are high chains of moun-
tains ', with the difference which I have
before obferved, that on the eaftern (lisore,
is a low piece of ground covered with
a foreft, extending between twelve and
eighteen EfigliJJj miles, after which the
mountains begin ; and the country behind
them belongs to New England. This chain
confifts of high mountains, which are to be
coniidered as the boundaries between the
Fre?jch and Englijh pcffeffions in thcfe parts
oi North America. On the weftern fliore
of the lake, the mountains reach quite to
the water fide. The lake at firft is but a
French mile broad, but always encreafes
afterwards. The country is inhabited

within

hake Cham plain. 39

within a French mile of the fort, but after
that, it is covered with a thick foreft. At
the diflance of about ten French miles from
fort St. Frederic i the lake is four fuch miles
broad, and we perceive feme iflands in it.
The captain of the yacht faid there were
about fixty iflands in that lake, of which
fome were of a confiderable fize. He
aflured me that the lake was in moft parts
fo deep, that a line of two hundred yards
could not fathom it; and clofe to the {here,
where a chain of mountains generally runs
acrofs t^he country, it frequently has a
depth of eighty fathoms. Fourteen French
miles from fort St. Frederic we faw four
large iflands in the lake, which is here
about fix French miles broad. This day
the fky was cloudy, and the clouds,
which were very low, feemed to fur-
round feveral high mountains, near the
lake, with a fog ; and from many moun-
tains the fog rofe, as the fmoke of a
charcoal-kiln. Now and then we faw a
little river which fell into the lake: the
country behind the high mountains, on the
weflern fi.de of the lake, is, as I am told,
covered for many miles together with a
tall foreft, interfered by many rivers and
brooks, with marllies and fmall lakes, and
very fit to be inhabited. The (liores are
C ^ fome-

40 ^ "July 1749.

fometimes rocky, and fometlmes fanc^y
here. Towards night the mountains de-
creafed gradually j the lake is very clear, and
we obferved neither rocks nor fhallows in it.
Lateat night the wind abated, and weanchor-
edclofetotheihore, and fpentone night here.

"July t}i\t 20th. This morning we pro-
ceeded with a fair wind. The place where
we pafied the^, night, was above half way
to fort ^X.'^'olUi for the diftance of that
place from fort St. Frederic^ acrofs lake
Chatnplain is computed to be forty-one
French miles ; that lake is here about lix
Fnglifi miles in breadth. The mountains
were now out of fight, and the country low,
plain, and covered with trees. The fhores
were fandy, and the- lake appeared now
from four to fix miles broad. It was really
broader, but the illands made it appear
narrower.

We often faw Indians in bark-boats,
clofe to the ihore, which was however not
inhabited j for the Fndians came here only
to catch fturgeons, wherewith this lake
abounds, and which we often fav/ leaping
up into the air. Thefe Indians lead a very
fingular life : At one time of the year they
live upoQ the fmali ftore of maize, beans,
and melons, which they have planted; dur-
ii'ig another period, or about this time,

their

Lake Champlain, 4t

their food is filli, without bread or any
oiher meat; and another feafon, they eat
nothing but rtags, roes, beavers, &c.
which they (hoot in the woods, and rivers.
They, however, eijoy long hfe, perfe<ft
health, and are more able to undergo hard-
Ibips than other people. They fing and
dance, are joyful, and always content ;
and would not, for a great deal, exchange
their manner of life for that which is pre-
ferred in Europe.

When we were yet ten French miles
from fort St. ^ohuy we faw fome houfes
on the weflern fide of the lake, in which
the French had lived before the laft war,
and which they then abandoned, as it was
by no means iafe : they now returned to
them again. Thefe were the firil: houles and
fettlements which we faw after we had left
thofe about fort St. Frederic.

There formerly was a wooden fort,
or redoubt, on the eaftern fide of the lake,
near the water-fide ; and the place where
it flood was fhewn me, v/hich at prefent is
quite overgrown with trees. The French
built it to prevent the incurfions o^ the
Indians, over this lake; and I was alfured
that many Frenchmen had been flain in
ihefe places. At the fame time they told
me, that they reckon lour women to one

man

42 ^Jidy 1749.

man in Canada, becaufe annually feveral
Frenchmen are killed on their expeditions,
which they undertake for the Take of trad-
ing with the hidians.

A WINDMILL, built of {lone, ftands on
the eaffc fide of the lake on a projed:ing
piece of ground. Some Frenchmen have
lived near it ; but they left it when the
war broke out, and are not yet come back
to it. From this mill to fort St. 'John, they
reckon eight French miles. The Englifi,
with tlieir Indians, have burnt the houfes
here feveral times, but the mill remained
unhurt.

The yacht which we went in to St.
John was the firft that was built here, and
employed on lake Champlaitiy for formerly
they made ufe of bateaux to fend pro-
vifions over the lake. The Captain of
the yacht was a Frenchman^ born in this
country; he had built it, and taken the
foundings of the lake, in order to find out
the true road, between fort St. yohn and
fort St. Frederic. Oppofite the windmill
the lake is about three fathoms deep, but
it grows more and more fhallow, the nearer
it comes to fort St. yohn.

We now perceived houfes on the fhore
again. The captain had otter-fkins in the
cabin, which were perfedly the fame, in j

colour

hake Champhun. 43

colour and fpecies, with tht European ones.
Otters are faid to be very abundant iii
Canada.

Seal-Jkins are here made ufe of to cover
boxes and trunks, and they often make
portmantles of them in Canada. The
common people had their tobacco-pouches
made of the fame ikins. The feals here
are entirely the fame with the Swedijh or
Fjuropean one, v^hich are grey with black
fpots. They are faid to be plentiful in the
mouth of the river St. tLaiirence^ below
^ebecy and go up that river as far as its
water is fait. They have not been found
in any of the great lakes of Canada. The
French call them Loiips ?narins. *

The French, in their colonies, fpend
much mere time in prayer and external
worfhip, than the Englijh, and Dutch fet-
tlers in the BritiJJj colonies. The latter
have neither morning nor evening prayer in
their fhips and yachts, and no difference is
made betu^een Sunday and other days. They
never, or very fcldom, fay grace at dinner.
On the contrary, the French here have
prayers every morning and night on board
their fhipping, and on Sundays they
pray more than commonly : they regularly
fay grace at their meals ; and every one of
* Sea Wolves.

them

44 >^ 1749-

them fays prayers in private as Coon as he
gets up. At fort St. Frederic all the foldiers
affembled together for morning and even-
ing prayers. The only fault was, that
moil: of the prayers were read in Latin,
which a great part of the people do not
underftand. Below the aforementioned
wind-mill, the breadth of the lake is about
a muiket-fliot, and it looks more like a
river thin a lake. The country on both
fides is low and flat, and covered with
woods. We faw at firfl: a few fcattered
cottages along the fhore; but a little fur-
ther, the country is inhabited without in-
terruption. The lake is here from fix to
\zx\ foot deep, and forms feveral iflands.
During the whole courfe of this voyage,
the fuuation of the lake was always diredlv
from S.S. W. to N.N.E.

In fome parts of Canada are great trads
of land belonging to fingle perfons ; from
thefe lands, pieces, of forty Arpens long,
and four wide, are allotted to each dif-
charged foldier, who intends to fettle here ;
but after his houfliold is eftablidied, he is
obliged to pay the owner of the lands fix
FrencJi Francs annually.

The lake was now fo fliallow in feveral
places, that we were obliged to trace the
way for the yacht^ by founding the depth

with

Fort St. John. 45

v/xxh branches of trees. In other places
oppofite, it was fometinnes two fathoai
deep.

In the evening, about fun fet, we arrived
at fort Sf. yearly or St. yoh.ny having h^d a
continual change of rain, fun-(hine, wind,
and calm, all the afternoon.

July xht 2\{}i. St. John is a woodeni
fort, which the French built in 1748, on
the weftern (hoxc of the mouth of lake
Champlainy clofe to the water-iide. It
was intended to cover the country round
about it, which they were then going to
people, and to fcrve as a magazine for pre-
viiions and ammunition, which were ufually
fent from Montreal to fort St. Frederic ;
becaufe they may go in yachts from hence
to the lad mentioned place, which is im-
pofTible lower down, as about two gun-
lliot further, there is a flmllow fuli of
ftones, and very rapid water in the river,
over which they can only pals in batcniix, or
flat veiTcls. Formerly fort CJuiniblan, which
lies four French miles lower, was the maga-
zine of provifions ; but as they were forced
firil to fend them hither in batenio:, and
then from hence in yachts, and the road
to fort Chamblan from Montreal being by
land, and much round about, this fori was
eredled. It has a low fiiuatiun, and lies

in

46 July 1 749-'

in a fdndy foil, and the country about it is
Jikewife low, fiat ; and covered with woods.
The fort is quiidrangular, and includes the
fpace of one arpejzt fquare. In each of the
two corners which look towards the lake is
a wooden building, four ftories high, the
lower part of which is of flone to the
height of about a fathom and a half, in
thefe buildings which are polyangular, are
holes for cannon and leffer tire-arms. In
each cf the two other corners towards the
country, is only a little wooden houfe, two
ilories high. Thefe buildings are intended
for the habitations of the foldiers, and for
the better defence of the place; between
thefe houfes, there are poles, two fathoms
and a half high, lliarpened at the top, and
driven into the ground clofe to one another.
They are made of the Thuya tree, which is
here reckoned the beft wood for keeping
from putrtfadionj and is much preferable to
iir in that point. Lower down the palifades
were double, one rov/ within the other.
For the convenience of the foldiers, a
broad elevated pavement, of more than
two yards in height, is made in the infide
of the fort all along the palifades, with
a baluftrade. On this pavement the
foldiers ftand and fire through the holes
upon the enemy, without being expcfed to

their

Fort St. John. 47

their fire. In the laft year, 1748, tvvQ
hundred men were in garrifon here j but
at this time there were only a governor, a
comniiffary, a baker, and fix foldiers to
take care of the fort and buildings, and to
fuperintend the provifions which are carried
to this place. The perfon who now cona-
manded at the fort, was the Chevalier
de Gannesy a very agreeable gentleman, and
brother-in-law to Mr. Ltijignatiy the go-
vernor of fort St. Frederic. The ground
about the fort, on both fides of the water,
is rich and has a very good foil j but it is
ftill without inhabitants, though it is talked
of, that it fhould get fome as foon as poflible.
The French in all Canada call the gnats
MarangoinSy which name, it is faid, they
have borrowed from the Indians. Thefe
infedls are in foch prodigious numbers in
the woods round fort St. John, that it
would have been more properly called fort
de Marangoins. The mardies and the
low fituation of the country, together with
the extent of the woods, contribute greatly
to their multiplying fo muchj and when
the woods will be cut down, the water
drained, and the countrv cultivated, they
probably will decreafe in number, and
vanifh at lad, as they have done in other
places.

The

48 y^b ^749*

The Rattle Snake, according to the
unanimous accounts of the French^ is nevtf
feen in this neighbourhood, nor further
north near Montreal and ^ebec i and the
mountains which furround fort St. Frederic^
are the moft northerly part on this fide,
where they have been fcen. Of all the
fnakes which are found in Cafiada to the
north of thefe mountains, none is poifon-*
ous enough to do any great harm to a man j
and all without exception run away when
they fee a man. My remarks on the
nature and properties of the rattle-fnake,
I have communicated to the royal Suoedijh
academy of fciences, * and thither I reitr
my readers.

'^ttly the 22d. This evening fome
people arrived with borfes from "Prairie, in
order to fetch us. The governor had itwl
for them at my defire, becaufe there wtre
not yet any horfes near fort St. 'John, the
place being only a year old, and the people
had not had time to fettle near it. Thofe
who led the horfes, brought letters to the go-
vernor from the governor-general of Canaddi
the Marquis la Gal/J]o?iicre, dated at Quebec
the fifteenth of this month, and from the
vice-governor of Montreal, the B-ron

* See their Memoirs for the year 1752, p. 30S, k£t. 9. ■

di:

Fort St. John. 49

de LongueiU dated the twenty-firft of t'he
lame month. They mentioned that I had
been particularly recommended by the
French court, and that the governor (hould
fupply me with every thing I wanted, and
forward my journey j and at the fame time
the governor received two little caiks of
wine for me, which they thought vv^ould
reHeve me on my journey. At night we
drank the kings of France and Swede?2S
health, under a falute from the cannon of
the fort, and the health of the governor-
general and others.

July the 23d. This morning we fet
out on oar journey xo Prairie, from whence
we intended to proceed to Montreal -, the
diflance of Prairie from fort St Johny by-
land, is reckoned fix French miles, and from
thence to Montreal two lieiies (leagues)
and a half, by the river St. Lawre?ice. At
firft we kept along the fliore, fo that
we had on our right the Riviere de St. Jean
(St. John's river). This is the name of
the mouth of the lake Champlain, which
falls into the river St. Lawrence, and
is fometimes called Riviere de Champlain
(Champlain river.) After we had travelled
about a French mile, we turned to the left
from the fhore. The country was always
low, woody, and pretty wet, though it was
Vol. III. D in

5-0 "July 1749,

in the midft of fummerj fo that we found
it difficult to get forward. But it is to be
obferved that fort St. "John was only built
laft fummer, when this road was firft made,
and confequently it could not yet have ac-
quired a proper degree of folidity. Two
hundred and fixty men were three months
at work, in making this road -, for which
they were fed at the expence of the go-
vernment, and each received thirty fols
every day 5 and I was told that they would
again relume the work next autumn. The
country hereabouts is low and woody, and
of courfe the refidence of millions of gnats
and flies, which were very troublefome to
us. After we had gone about three French
miles, we came out of the woods, and the
ground feemed to have been formerly a
marfh, which was now dried up. From
hence we had a pretty good profped: on all
fides. On our right hand at a great dif-
tance we faw two high mountains, riling
remarkably above the reft ; and they were
not far from fort Champlain. We could
likewife from hence fee the high mountairi
which lies near Montreal; and our road went
on nearly in a ftraight line. Soon after, we got
again upon wet and low grounds, and after
that into a wood which confifted chiefly of

the

From Fort Sf. Jo/in to Frairie. 5 f

the fir with icaves which have a filvery
underfide.^^ We found the foil which we
pafTed over to day, very fine and rich, and
when the woods will be cleared and the
ground cultivated, it will probably prove
very fertile. There are no rocks, and hardly
any ftones near the road.

About four French miles from fort Si.
"Johrii the country makes quite another
appearance. It is all cultivated, and a con-
tinual variety of fields with excellent wheat,
peafe, and oats, prefented itfelf to our view;
but we fiw no other kinds of corn. The
farms flood fcattered, and each of them
was furrounded by its corn fields, and mea-
dows; the houfes are built of wood and
very fmall. Inftead of mofs, which can-
not be got here, they employ clay for flop-
ping up the crevices in the walls. The
roofs are made very much Hoping, and
covered with ftravv. The foil is good, flat,
and divided by feveral rivulets -, and only
in a few places there are fome little hills.
The profpedl is very fine from this part of
the road, and as far as I could fee the
country, it was cultivated ; all the fields
were covered with corn, and they generally
ufe fummer- wheat here. The ground is

* Ahies folli! fubtus argenteis.

D z flill

52 July 17 A9'

ilill very fertile, fo that there is no occafion
for leaving it \y as fallow. The forefts are
pretty much cleared, and it is to be feared
that there will be a time, when wood will
become very fcarce. Such was the appear-
ance of the country quite up to Prairie,
and the river St, Lawrence, which laft we
had now always in fight ; and, in a word
this country was, in my opinion the fineft
of North- Ajiierica, which I had hitherto
feen. '

About dinner-time we arrived at Prai-
rie, which is iituated on a little rifing
ground near the river St. hawrence. We
itaid here this day, becaufe I intended to
vi(it the places in this neighbourhood, be-
fore I went on.

Prairie de la Magdelene is a fmall village
on the eaflern fide of the river St. Lawrence,
about two French miles and a half from
Montreal, which place lies N. W. from
hence, on the other fide of the river. All
the country round Prairie is quite Hat, and
has hardly any rifings. On all fides are
large corn-fields, meadows, and paftures.
On the weflern fide, the river St. Lawrence
paiTes by, and has here a breadth of a French
mile and a half, if not more. Mofl of the
houfes in Prairie are built of timber, with
Hoping wooden roofs, and the crevices in

the

Trairie. -53

the walls are flopped up with clay. There
are fome little buildings of ftone, chiefly
of the black lime-ftone, or of pieces of
rock-flone, in which latter the enchafe-
ment of the doors and windows was made
of the black lime-flone. In the midft of
the village is a pretty church of ftone, with
a fteeple at the weft end of it, furniihed
with bells. Before the door is a crofs, to-
gether with ladders, tongs, hammers, nails,
&c. which are to reprefent all the inftru-
ments made ufe of at the crucifixion of our
Saviour, and perhaps many others befides
them. The village is furrounded with
palifades, from four yards to five high, put
up formerly as a barrier againft the in-
curfions of the Indians. Without thefe
palifades are feveral little kitchen and plea-
fure gardens, but very few fruit-tcees in
them. The rifing grounds along the river,
are very inconfiderable here. In this place
there was a prieft, and a captain, who
alTamed the name of governor. The corn-
fields round the place are extenfive, and
fown with fummer-wheat j but rye, barley
and maize are never feen. To the fouth-
weft of this place is a great fall in the
river St. Lawrence, and the noife which it
caufes, may be plainly heard here. When
the water in fpring encreafes in the river,
D ^ on

54 >b i749»

on account of the ice which then begins
to difTolve, it fometimes happens to rile fp
high as to overflow a great part of the
fields, and, inflead of fertiHzing them as the
river Nile fertiHzes the Egyptian fields by
its inundations, it does them much damage,
by carrying a number of gral^^^s and plants
on them, the feeds of which tpread the
worft kind of weeds, and ruin the fields,
Thefe inundations oblige the people to
take their cattle a great way off, becaufe
the water covers a great trad: of land ^ but
happily it never ftays on it above two or
three days. The caufe of thefe inundation^
is generally owing to the flopping of ice
in fome part of the river.

The Zizania aquatica, or FoIIe Avoine
grows plentiful in the rivulet, or brook,
which flows fomewhat below Prairie.

"July ihe 24th. This morning I went
from Prairie in a bateau to Montrealy upon
the river St. Lawrejice. The river is very
rapid, but not very deep near Prairie^ fo
that the yacht cannot go higher than Mon^
trealj except in fpring with the high water,
when they can come up to Prairie^ but no
further. The town of Montreal mzy be i^tn
^l Prairie, and all the way down to it. On
our arrival, there we found a crowd of
people at that gate of the town, where we

were

From Pratrie to Montreal, 55

were to pafs through. They were very
defirous of feeing us, becaufe they were in-
formed that fome Swedes were to come to
town ', people of whom .they had heard
fomething, but whom they had never feen 5
and we were aflured by every body, that
we were the firft Swedes that ever came to
Montreal. As foon as we were landed, the
governor of the town fent a captain to me,
who defired I would follow him to the
governor's houfe, where he introduced me
to him. The Baron Longueuil was as yet
vice-governor, but he daily exped:ed his
promotion from France. He received me
more civilly and generoully than I can well
defcribe, and (hewed me letters from the
governor-general at ^ebec, the Marquis
de la Galfffoniere, which mentioned that he
had received orders from the French court
to fupply me with whatever I ftiould want,
as I was to travel in this country at the ex-
pence of his moft Chriftian majefty. In
fhort governor Longueuil loaded me with
greater favours than I could expe(ft or even
imagine, both during my prefent flay and
on my return from ^lebec.

The difference between the manners and

cuftoms of the French in Montreal and

Canada, and thofe of the Fnglifh in the

j^merkan colonies, is as great as that be-

D 4 tween

56 "^^b 1749-

tween the manners of thofe two nations in
Europe. The women in general are hand-
fome here ; they are v/dl bred, and virtu-
ous with an innocent and becoming free-
dom. They drefs out' very fine on Sundays j
and though on the other days they do not
take much pains with other parts of their
drefs, yet they are very fond of adorning
their heads, the hair of which is always
curled and powdered, and ornamented with
glittering bodkins and aigrettes. Every
day but Sunday, they wear a little neat
jacket, and a fhort petticoat which hardly
reaches half the leg, and in this particular
they feem to imitate the Indian vi^omen.
The heels of their (hoes are high, and very
narrow, and it is furprizing how they walk
on them. In their knowledge of oeconomy,
they greatly furpafs the Englijlj women in
the plantations, who indeed have taken the
liberty of throwing all the burthen of houfe-
keeping upon their huibands, and fit in their
chairs all day with folded arms. ^ The
women in Canada on the contrary do not
fpare themfelves, efpeciaily among the com-
mon

* It feems, that for the future, the fair fex in the Engl'ijh
colonics in North-America, will no longer deferve the re-
proaches Mr. Kahn fligm -tizes them with repeatedly, fince
jt is generally reported, that the ladies of late have vied
one with another, in providing their families with linen,
Itockings, ?rd home-^pun c oath of their own making, and
that a general fpirit or induilry prp/dils among them at this
prefent time, F.

Montreal. 57

mon people, where they are always in the
fields, meadows, ftables, &c. and do not
dillike any work whatfoever. However, they
feem ruber remifs in re^^ard to the cleaning

o o

of the ntenfils, and apartments 3 for fome-
times the floors, both in the town and country,
were hardly cleaned once in {lyi months,
which is a difagreeable iight to one who
comes from amongil: the Dutch and Englifiy
where the conftant fcouring and fcrubbiog
of the floors, is reckoned as important as
the exercife of religion itfelf. To prevent
the thick dufl, which is thus left on the
floor, from being noxious to the health,, the
women wet it feveral times a day, which
renders it more coniifl:ent ; repeating the
afperfion as often as the dull is dry and
rifes again. Upon the whole, however,
they are not averfe to the taking a part in
all the bufinefs of houfekeeping; and I have
with pleafure feen the daughters of the bet-
ter fort of people, and of the governor him-
felf, not too finely drefled, and going into
kitchens and cellars, to look that every
thing be done as it ought.

The men are extremely civil, and take
their hats off to every perfon indifferently
whom they meet in the Ifreets. It is cufto-
mary to return a vifit the day after you
have received one; though one fhould have
feme fcores to pay in one day.

I HAVE

5S >/k 1749-

I HAVE been told by fome among the
French, who had gone a beaver-hunting
with the Indians to the northern parts of
Canada, that the animals, whofe Ikins they
endeavour to get, and which are there in
great plenty, are beavers, wild cats, or
lynxs, and martens. Thefe animals are the
more valued, the further they are caught
to the north, for their ikins have better
hair, and look better than thofe which are
taken more fouthward, and they became
gradually better or vvorfe, the more they
are northward or fouthward.

White Patridges^h the nama which the
French in Canada give to a kind of birds,
abounding during winter near Hudfons
Bay, and which are undoubtedly our Ptar-
migans, or Snoiv-hens [T^etrao Lagopus).
They are very plentiful at the time of a
great frod, and when a confiderable quanti-
ty of fnow happens to fall. They are defcrib-
ed to me as having rough white feet, and
being white all over, except three or four
black feathers in the tail ; and they are
reckoned very fine eating. From Edward'^
Natural Hiftcry of Birds (pag. 72.) it ap-
pears, that the ptarmigans are common
about Hudfons Bay -f.

Hares

* Perdrix Manches.

t See Br. loot. Sunpl. plate XIII. f, i. F,

Montreal. 59

Hares are likewife faid to be plentifal
near Hudfons Bay, and they are abundant
even in Canada, where I have often ii:tn^
and found them perfectly correfponding
with our Sivedip:) hares. In fumnier they
have a brownifli grey, and in winter a fnowy
white colour, as with us *.

Mechanics, fuch as arch itedure^cabinet-
work, turning, and the hke, were not yet
fo forward here as they ought to bcj and
the Eng/jJJj, in that particular, out do the
French, The chief caufe of this is, that
fcarce any other people than difmiiTed fol-
diers come to fettle here, who have not
had any opportunity of learning a mecha-
nical trade, but have fometimes acciden-
tally, and through neceffity been obliged
to it. There are however fome, who have
a good notion of mechanics, and I faw a
perfon here, who made very good clocks,
and watches, though he had had but very
little inftrucflion.

July the 27th. The common houfe-
flies have but been obfervcd in this country
about one hundred and fifty years ago, as I
have been affured by feveral perfons in this
town, and in ^ebec. AW ihc Indians ^(^Qvt
the fame thing, and are of opinion that the

coiii-

" See a figure of this hare in its white fiate, in the Suppl.
to jS/. ZooL plate XL VII. f. i. F.

6o "July 1749.

common Hies firfl: came over here, vvitli
the Europea72s and their fliips, which were
firanded on this coaft. I (hail not difpute
this ', however, I know, that whilil I was
in the defarts between Saratoga and Crown-
fointy or fort St. Frederic, and fat down to
refl or to eat, a number of our common
iiies always came, and fettled on me. It
is therefore dubious, whether they have
not been longer in America than the term
above mentioned, or v/hether they have
been imported from Europe On the other
hand, it may be urged that the flies were
left in Jiofe defarts at the time when fort
Anne was yet in a good condition, and
when the Englifo often travelled there and
back again ; not to mention that feveral
Europeans, both before and after that time,
had travelled through thofe places, and car-
ried the flies with them, which were at-
tra(5led by their provifions.

IVild Cattle are abundant in the fouthern
parts of Canada^ and have been there fince
times immemorial. They are plentiful in
thofe parts, particularly where the Illinois
Indians live, which are nearly in the fame
latitude with Philadelphia ; but further to
the north they are feldoni obferved. I
faw the fkin of a Vv'ild ox to-day ; it was
as big as one of the largeft ox hides in Eu-
rope,

Montreal. 6 r

rope, but had better hair. The hair is
dark brown, like that on a brown bear-
fkin. That which is clofe to the fkin, is
as loft as wool. This hide was not very
thick; and in general they do not reckon
them fo valuable as bear"fl';:ins in France,
In winter they are fpread on the floors,
to keep the feet warm. Some of thefe
wild cattle, as I am told, have a long and
fine wool, as good, if not better, than
fheep wool. They make (lockings, clothe
gloves, and other pieces of worlied work
of it, which look as well as if they were
made of the bed fheep wool ; and the In-
dians employ it for feveral ufes. The licili
equals the bed beef in goodnefs and fatnefs.
Sometimes the hides are thick, and may
be made ufe of as cow-hides are in Europe.
The wild cattle in general are faid to be
flronger and bigger, than European cattle,,
and of a brown red colour. Their horns
are but fliorr, though very thick cloie to-
the head. Thefe and feveral other quali-
ties, which they have in common withj
and in greater perfedlion than the tame
cattle, have induced fome to endeavour to
tame them; by which means they would
obtain the advantages arifing from their
goodnefs of hair, and, on account of their
great ftrength, be able to employ them

fuC"

62 July 1749.

fuccefsfully in agriculture. With this vievir
fome have repeatedly got young wild calves,
and brought them up in ^ehec, and other
places, among the tame cattle ; but they
commonly died in three or four years time ;
and though they have ittn people every day,
yet they have always retained a natural fero-
city. They have conftantly been very (liy,
pricked up their ears at the fight of a
man, and trembled, or run about ; fo
that the art of taming them has not hi-
therto been found out. Some have been
of opinion, that thefe cattle cannot well
bear the cold; as they never go north of
the place I mentioned, though the fummers
be very hot, even in thofe northern parts.
They think that, when the country about
the Illinois will be better peopled, it will be
more eafy to tame thele cattle, and that
afterwards they might more eafily be ufed
to the northerly climates ^•. The hidimis
and French in Canada, make ufe of the
horns of thefe creatures to put gun-powder
in. 1 have briefly mentioned the wild cat-
tle in the former pans of this journey -f-.

The

* But by this means they woold loofe that fuperiorlty,
which in their wild ftate they have over the tame cattle j
as all the progenies of tamed animals degenerate from the
excellence of their wild and free anctftors, F,

t See Vol. I. p. 207.

i

Montreal. 6 ^

The peace, which was concluded be-
tween France and Rngland, was proclaimed
this day. The foldiers were under arms ; the
artillery on the walls was fired off, and fome
falutes were given by the fmall fire-arms.
-All night fome fireworks were exhibited,
and the whole town was illuminated. All
the flreets were crowded with people, till
late at night. The governor invited me to
fupper, and to partake of the joy oF the
inhabitants. There were prefent a num-
ber of officers, and perfonsofdiftindion; and
the feftival concluded with the greatefl: joy.

"July the 28th. This morning I accom-
panied the governor, baron Longueidl, and
his family, to a little ifland called Magde-
lene^ which is his own property. It lies in
the river St. hawrejice^ diredly oppofite to
the town, on the eaftern fide. The gover-
nor had here a very neat houfe, though
it was not very large, a fine extenfive gar-
den, and a court-yard. The river pafies
between the town and this ifiand, and i?
very rapid. Near the town it is deep
enough for yachts ; but towards the iiland
it grows more {hallow, fo that they are
obliged to puQi the boats forwards with
poles. There was a mill on the ifland,
turned by the mere force of the flream,
without an additional mill-dam.

The

^4 Jub 1749-

The fmooth lumach, or Rhus glabrdt
grows in great plenty here. I have no
where feen it fo tall as in this place, where
it had fonietimes the height of eight yards,
and a proportionable tliicknefs.

Saffafras is planted here ; for it Is never
found wild in thefe parts, fort Ajim being
the moil northerly place where I have found
it wild. Thofe flirubs which were on the
ifland, had been planted many years ago -,
however, they were but fmall fhrubs, from
two to three feet high, and fcarce fo much.
The reafon is, becaufe the flem is killed
every winter, almofi down to the very root,
and mufh produce new fhoots every fpring,
as I have found from my own obfervations
herej and fo it appeared to be near the forts
AnnSi Nichoifo?2y and Ofwego. It will there-
fore be in vain 10 attempt to plant faffafras
in a very cold climate.

The red Mulberry-trees (Moms rubra,
Linn.) are like wife planted here. I faw
four or five of them about five yards high,
which the governor told me, had been
twenty years in this place, and were brought
from more foutherly parts, fince they do
not grow wild near Montreal, The moil
northerly place, where 1 have found it
growing fpontaneoufly, is about twenty
Englijh miles north of Albany, as I have

been

Montreal. ■ 6^

been aiTared by the country people, who
live in that place, and who at the fame
time informed me, that it was very fcarce
in the woods. When I came to Saratoga,
I enquired whether any of thefe mulberry-
trees had been found in that neighbour-
hood ? but every body told me, that they
were never feen in thofe parts, but that
the before mentioned place, twenty miles
above Albany, is the moil: northern or^e
where they grow. Thofe mulberry-trees,
which were pTanred on this illand, fucceed
very well, though they are placed in a poor
foih Their foliage is large and thick, but
they did not bear any fruits this year. How-
ever, I was informed that they can bear a
confiderable degree of cold.

The IVaterbeech was planted here in a
fbady place, and was grown to a great
height. AH the French hereabouts call it
Cotonier *. It is never found wild near the
river St. Lawrence \ nor north of fort St.
Frederic, where it is now very fcarce.

The red Cedar is called Cedre rouge by
the French, and it was likewife planted in
the governor's garden, whither it had been
brought from more fouthern parts, for it is
not to be met with in the forefls here-

VoL. III. E abouts.

* Cotton-tree. Mr. KaJm mentions before, that this name
is given to ihQ Jj'cUpias Sjriaca. See Vol. Ill, p. 28. F.

66 yuly ijig.

abouts. However, it came on very v<}t\\
here.

About half an hour after feven in the
evening wt left this pleafant ifland, and an
hour after our return the baron de Longueiiil
received two agreeable pieces of news at once.
The firfl was, that his fon, who had been
two years in France, was returned ; and
the fecond, that he had brought with him
the royal patents for his father, by which
he was appointed governor of Montreal,
and the country belonging to it.

They make ufe of fans here, which are
made of the tails of the wild turkeys. As
foon as the birds are fhot, their tails are
fpread like fans, and dried, by which means
they keep their figure. The ladies and the
rnen of diftindtion in town wear thefe fans,
when they walk in the flreets, during the
intenfenefs of the heat.

All the grafs on the meadows round
ikf^;2/;r^/,conliftschieflyof a fpecies oi Mea^
dow-grafs, or the Poa capillaris, Linn. *
This is a very flender grafs, which grows
very clofe, and fucceeds even on the drieft
hills. It is however not rich in foliage;
and the flender ftalk is chiefly ufed for hay.

We

* Mr. Kalm defer ibes it thus : Poa culmofubcompr^JJ'o, pa.
v'-cula ieni'JJJima,fpiculis trijioris minimis^ fiojculis baji pubejcsn-
tibus.

MonfreaL 67

We have numerous kinds of gralTes in
Swede}iy which make infinitely finer mea-
dows than this.

July the 30th. The wild Plumb-trees
grow in great abundnnce on the hil!s, along
the rivulets abo'it ii^ town. They were
fo loaded with fruit, that the bonH:hs were
^uite bent downwards by the weigiit. The
fruit vvas not yet rip^» but when it comes
to that perfecflion^ it has a red colour and
a fine tafte, and pieierves are ibmetiines
made of it.

Black Ctrrrants {Rlbes -nigrum: Limi,^ are
plentiful in the fame places, and its beiues
were ripe at this time. They are very fmall,
and not by far fo agreeable as ihofe in Sweden.

Parfneps grow in great abundance on the
rifing banks of rivers, along the corn-fields,
and in other places. This led me to think,
that they were original natives of America,
and not firfl brought over by the Europeans^
But on my journey into the country of the
-Iroquois i where no European ever had a fet-
tlement, I never once faw it, though the
foil was excellent ; and from hence it ap-
pears plain enough, that it was tranfported
hither from Europe, and is not originally
an American plant 3 and therefore it is in
vain fought for in any part of this con-
E 2 tinent.

6i Auguji 1749.

tlnent, except among the European fettle-
ments,

Juguft the I ft. The governor-general
of Canada commonly refides at ^ebec ; but
he frequently goes to Montreal^ and gene-
rally fpends the winter there. In fummer
he chiefly refides at Quebec, on account of
the king's fliips, which arrive there during
that feafon, and bring him letters, which
he mufi: anfwer ; befides other bufinefs
which comes in about that time. During
his reiidence in Montreal he lives in the
caftle, as it is called, which is a large houfe
of (lone, built by governor-general Vau-
dreuiiy and ftill belonging to his family,
who hire it to the king. The governor-
general de la Galiffoniere is faid to like Mont^
real better than !^iebec, and indeed the fi-
tuation of the former is by far the mors
ageeable one.

They have in Canada fcarce any other
but paper-currency. I hardly ever faw any
coin, except French fols, conlifting of brafs,
with a very fmail mixture of filver j they
were quite thin by conftant circulation, and
were valued at a fol and a half. The bills
are not printed, but written. Their ori-;
gin is as follows. The French king hav-
ing found it very dangerous to fend money

for

Montreal, 69

for the pay of the troops, and other pur-
pofes, over to Canada^ on account of pri-
vateers, fliipwrecks, and other accidents ;
he ordered that inftead of it the intendant,
or king's fteward, at ^lebec, or the com-
mifTary at Moiitreal, is to write bills for
the value of the fums which are due to
the troops, and which he diftributes to
each foldier. On thefe bills is infcribed, that
they bear the value of fuch or fuch a fum,
till next OBoher ; and they are figned by
the intendant, or the commifTary ; and in
the interval they bear the value of money. In
the month of OBober, at a certain flated time,
every one brings the bills in his poffefHon
to the intendant at ^lebec, or the com-
miflary at Montreal^ who exchanges them
for bills of exchange upon France, which
are paid there in lawful money, at the king's
exchequer, as foon as they are prefented.
If the money is not yet wanted, the bill
may be kept till next Odlober, when it may
be exchanged by one of thofe gentlemen,
"for a bill upon France. The paper money
can only be delivered in 05iober, and ex-
changed for bills upon France. They arc
of different values, and fome do not ex-
ceed a livre, and perhaps fome are ftill lefs.
Towards autumn when the merchants (hips
come in from France, the merchants en-
E 3 deavour

70 Auguft 1749.

deavour to get as many bills as they can,
and change them for bills upon the French
treafury. Thefe bills are partly printed,
fpaces being left for the name, fum, ^r.
But the hrft bill, or paper currency Is all
wrote, and is therefore fubjedt to be coun-
terfeited, which has fometiraes been done;
but the great punifhments, which have been
iniiidted upon the authors of thefe forged
bills, and which generally are capital, have de-
terred people from attempting it again j fo
that examples of this kind are very fcarce
at prefent. As there is a great want of
fmall coin here, the buyers, or fellers,
were frequently obliged to fuffer a fmall
lofs, and could pay no intermediate prices
between one livre and two *.

They commonly give one hundred and
fifty livres a year to a faithful and dili-
gent footman, and to a maid-fervant of the
fame charader one hundred livres. A jour-
neymen to an artift gets three or four li-
vres a day, and a common labouring man
gets thirty or forty fols a day. The fear-
city of labouring people occafions the v/ages
to be fo high; for almoil every body finds

it

* Theyo/ls'the loweft coin in Canada, and is about the
value of a penny in the EngUJh colonies. A livre, or franc,
(for they are both the fame) contains twenty folsj and three
iivres, or francs, make an ecut or crown.

Montreal. 7 1

it fo eafy to Tet up as a farmer in this un-
cultivated country, where he can live well,
and at a fmall cxpence, that he does not
care to ferve and work for others.

Montreal is the fecond town in Canaduy
in regard to lize and wealth -, but it is
the firft on account of its fine fituation,
and mild climate. Somewhat above the
town, the river St. Lawrence divides into
feveral branches, and by that means forms
feveral illands, among which the ifle of
Montreal is the greateft. It is ten French
miles long, and near four broad, in its
broadeft part. The town of Montreal is
built on the eaftern fide of thejfland, and
clofe to one of the mofl confiderable bran-
ches of the river St. Lawrence i and thus it
receives a very pleafant, and advantageous
fituaiion, The town has a quadrangular
form, or rather it is a rectangular paralle-
logram, the long and eafternfide of which
extends along the greaj; branch of the river.
On the other fide it is furrounded with ex-
cellent corn-fields, charming meadows, and
delightful woods. It has got the name of
Montreal from a great mountain, about half
a mile weilwards of the town, and lifting
its head far above the woods. Monf Car-
rier, one of the fir fl Frenchmen who fur-
Yey»d Canada more accurately, called this
E 4 moun-

72 Augiift 1749."

mountain fo, on his arrival in this ifland^
in the year 1535^ when he vifited the moun-
taiDj and the Indian town KoJJjelaga near
it. The priefis who, according to the Ro^:
man catholic way, would call every place in
this country after fome faint or other, cz\\-
td Montreal, Ville Marie, hut they have not
been able to make this name general, for
it has alvj/'sys kept its firft name. It is
pretty well fortified, and furrounded with
a high and thick wail. On the eaft fide it
has the river St. Lawrence, and on all the
other fides a deep ditch filled with water,
which fecures the inhabitants againft all
danger from the fudden incurfions of the
enemy's troops. Hovv'ever, it cannot long
fl:and a regular fiege, becaufe it requires a
great garrifon, on account of its extent;
and becaufe it confifts chiefly of wooden
houfes. Here are feveral churches, of
which I fiiall only mention that belong-
ing to the friars of the order of St. Sulpi^
tins, that of the Jefuits, that of the Fran-
cifcan friars, that belonging to the nunne-
ry, and that of the hofpital ; of v/hich the
firft is however by far the fineft, both, in
regard to its outward and inward orna-
ments, not only in this place, but in all
Canada. The priefts of the fern i nary of
St. Siilpitius have a fine large houfe, where

they

Mont real. y^

ihey live together. The college of the
Francifcan friars is likewife fpacious, and
has good walls, but it is not fo magnificent
as the former. The college of the Jefuits
is fmall, but well built. To each of thefe
threebaildings areannexed finelar^egarden?,
for the amufement, health, and ufe of the
communities to which they belong. Some
of the houfes in the town are built of ftone,
but mod: of them are of timber, though
very neatly built. Each of the better fort
of hoafcs has a door towards the flreet,
with a feat on each fide of it, for amufe-
ment and recreation in the morning and
evening. The long ftreets are broad and
flrair, and divided at r'ght angles by the
(hort ones : fome are paved, but moll of
them very uneven. The gates of the town
are numerous j on the eaft iide of the town
towards the river are five, two great and
three leQer ones j and on the other fide are
likewile feveral. The governor-general of
Canada J when he is at Montreal^ re fides in
the caftle, which the government hires for
that purpofe of the family of Vaudreiiil ;
but the governor of Montreal is obliged
to bny or hire a houfe in town ; though
I was told, that the government contribut-
ed towards paying the rents.

In the tovv'n is a Nunnery, and without

its

74 ^H^fi 1749-

its walls half a one; for though the laft was
quite ready, however, it had not yet been
confirmed by the pope. In the iirft they
do not receive every girl that offers her-
felf ; for their parents mufl pay about five
hundred ecus, or crowns, for them. Some
indeed are admitted for three hundred ecus^
but they are obliged to ferve thofe who
pay more than they. No poor girls are
taken in.

The king has ereded a hofpital for fick
foldiers here. The iick perfon there is pro-
vided withevery thinghewants, and theking
pays twelve fols every day for his flay, at-?
tendance, ^c. The furgeons are paid by the
king. When an officer is brought to this
hofpital, who is fallen fick in the fervice of
the crown, he receives viduals and attend-
ance gratis : but if he has got a ficknefs in
the execution of his private concerns, and
comes to be cured here, he muft pay it out
of his own purle. When there is room
enough in the hofpital, they likewife take
in fome of the fick inhabitants of the town
and country. They have the medicines, and
the attendance of the furgeons, gratis, but
muft pay twelve fols per day for meat, ^c.

Every Friday is a market-day, when the
country people come to the town with pro-
vifions, and thofe who want ihem mufl

fupply

Montreal. 75

fupply themfelves on that day. becaufe it is
the only market-day in the whole week.
On that day likewife a number of Indians
come to town, to fell their goods, and buy
others.

The declination of the magnetic needle
was here ten degrees and thirty-eight mi-
nutes, weft. Mr. Gillmi, one of the priefts
here, who had a particular tafte for mathe-
maticks and aftronomy, had drawn a me-
ridian in the garden of the feminary, which
he faid he had examined repeatedly by the
fun and ftars, and found to be very exacft.
I compared my compafs with it, taking
care, that no iron was near it, and found
its declination jufl: the fame, as that which
I have before mentioned.

According to Monf. Gillions obferva-
tions, the latitude of Montreal is forty-
five degrees and twenty-feven minutes.

MoNSR. Fontarion, another prieft, had
made thermometrical obfervations in Mont-
real, from the beginning of this year 1749.
He made ufs of Reaumur s thermometer,
which he placed fometimes in a window
half open, and fometimes in one quite
open, and accoi-dingly it will fcldom mark
the greateft degree of cold in the air. How-
ever, 1 (hall give a fhort abftrad: of his ob-
fervations for the winter months. In Ja-
nuary

76 Augiift 1749.

niiary the greatefl cold was on the 18 th day
of the month, when the Reaumurian ther-
mometer was twenty-three degrees below
the freezing point. The leafl: degree of cold
was on the 3ifl: of the fame month, when
it was juft at the freezing point, but moil:
of the days of this month it was from
twelve to fifteen degrees below the freez-
ing point. In Feb?'uary the greatefi cold
was on the 19th, and 25th, when the ther-
mometer was fourteen degrees below the
freezing point ; and the leaft was on the
3d day of that month, when it rofe eight
degrees above the freezing point; but it
was generally eleven degrees below it» In
March the greatefi cold was on the 3d,
when it was ten degrees below the freez-
ing point, and on the 22d, 23d, and 24th,
it was mildefl, being fifteen degrees above
it : in general it 'vvas four degrees below it.
In Ap7il the greateft degree of cold hap-
pened on the 7th, the thermometer being
five degrees below the freezing point ; the
25th was the miidefl: day, it being twenty
degrees above the freezing point ; but in
general it was twelve degrees above it.
Thefe are the contents chiefly of Monf. Fon-
tarion% obfervations during thofe months ;
but I found, by the manner he made his ob-
fervations, that the cold had every day been

from

Montreal, yj

from four to fix degrees greater, than he
had marked it. He had likewife marked
in his journal, that the ice in the river St.
Lawrence broke on the 3d of j^pril at
Montreal, and only on the 20th day of
that month at ^lebec. On the 3d of May
fome trees began to flower at Montreal^
and on the I2'th the hoary frofl was fo
great, that the trees were quite covered
with it, as with fnow. The ice in the ri-
ver clofe to this town is every winter above
a French foot thick, and fometimes it is
two of fuch feet, as I was informed by all
whom I confulted on that head.

Several of the friars here told me, that
the fummers were remarkably longer in
Canada, {\nz& its cultivation, than they ufed
to be before; it begins earlier, and ends
later. The winters on the other hind are
much fhorter; but the friars were of opi-
nion, that they were as hard as formerly,
though they were not of the fame dura-
tion j and likewife, that the fammer at
prefent was no hotter, than it ufed to be.
The coldeft winds at Montreal are thofe
from the north and north-weft.

Augujl the 2d. Early this morning
we lett Montreal, and went in a bateau on
our journey to .^i'fc'^dr, in company with the
fecond major of Montreal, M. de Sermon-

inlle.

^$ Auguji 1749.

•ville^ We fell down the river St. Lend-
rencCy which was here pretty broad on our
left; on the north- weft fide was the ifle of
Montreal, and on the right a number of
other ifles, and the fhore. The ifle of ,
Moiitreal was clofely inhabited along the
river ; and it was very plain, and the rifing
land near the fhore confifted of pure mouldy
and was between three or four yards high.
The woods were cut down along the river-
lide, for the diftance of an EngliJJo mile.
The dwelling-houfes were built of wood, or
flone,indifcriminately,and white-wafhed on
the outfide. The oiher buildings, fuch as
barns, ftables, &c. were all of wood. The
ground next to the river was turned either
into corn-fields, or meadows. Now and
then we perceived churches on both fides of
the river, the fteeples of which v/ere gene-
rally on that fide of the church, which
looked towards the river, becaufe they are
not obliged here to put the fteeples on the
weft end of the churches. Within fix
French miles of Montreal we faw feveral
iflands of different fizes on the river, and
mofl of them were inhabited ; and if fome of
them were without houfeson them, they v/ere
fometimes turned into corn-fields, but ge-
nerally into meadows. We faw no moun-
tains, hills, rocks, or ftones to-day, the

country

Between Montreal and Tfois Rivieres, ^g

country being flat throughout, and confifl-
ing of pure mould.

All the farms in Canada fland feparate
from each other, fo that each farmer has
his pofleflions entirely diftind: from thofe
of his neighbour. Each church, it is true,
has a little village near it j but that con-
fifts chiefly of the parfonage, a fchool for
the boys and girls of the place, and of the
houfes of tradefmen, but rarely of farm-
houfesj and if that was the cafe, yet their
fields were feparated. The farm-houfes
hereabouts are generally built all along the
fifing banks of the river, either clofe to the
water or at fome diflance from it, and about
three or four arpeits from each other. To
fome farms are annexed fmall orchards; but
they are in general without them; how-
ever, almoft every farmer has a kitchen-
garden.

I HAVE been told by all thofe who have
made journies to the fouthern parts of Cana-
da, and to the river MiJJifippi, that the
woods there abound with peach-trees,
which bear excellent fruit, and that the
Indians of thofe parts fay, that thofe trees
have been there fince times immemorial.

The farm-houfes are generally built of
ftone, but fometimes of timber, and have
three or four rooms. The windows are

feldom

8o Augiift 1749.

feldom of glafs, but moil: frequently of pa«
per. They have iron lloves in one of the
rooms, and chimnies in the reft. The
roofs are covered with boards. The cre-
vices and chinks are filled up with clay*
The other buildings are covered with draw.

There are feveral Crojes put up with
the road fide, which is parallel to the fhores
of the river. Thefe croffes are very com-
mon in Canada, and are put up to excite
devotion in the travellers. They are made
of wood, five or fix yards high, and pro-
portionally broad. In that fide which lo:.ks
towards the road is a fquare hole, in which
they place an image of our Saviour, the
crofs, or of the holy Virgin, with the child
in her arms j and before that they pot a
piece of glafs, to prevent its being fpoiled
by the weather. Thofe croiTes which are
not far from churches, are very much
adorned, and tliey put up about them all
the infi:ruments which they think the Jeii's
employed in crucifying our Saviour, fuch
as a hammer, tongs, nails, a flaflv of vine-
gar, and perhaps many more than were
really made ufe of. A figure of the cock,
which crowed when St. Peter denied our
Lord, is commonly put at the top of the
crofs.

The country on both fides was very de-
lightful

Between MoPJrea/ and "1 rois Rhieres. S t

lightful to day, and the fine ftate of its cul-
tivation, added greatly to the beauty of the
fcene. It could really be called a village,
beginning at Montreal, and ending at S^ue--
6ec, which is a diftance of more than one
hundred and eighty miles; for the farm-
houfes are never above five arpens, and
fometimes but three, afunder, a few places
excep^f d. The profpedt is exceedingly beau-
tiful, when the river goes on for fome miles
together in a ftrait line, becaufe it then
{hortens the diftances between the houfes,
and makes them form exadly one continued
village.

All the women in the country, with-
out exception, wear caps of fome kind or
other. Their jackets are fliort, and fo are
their petticoats, which fcarce reach down
to the middle of their legs ; and they have
a filver crofs hanging down on the. breall:.
In general they are very laborious ; how-
ever, I faw fome, who, like the EngliJJj
women in the colonies, did nothing but
prattle all the day. When they have any
thing to do within doors, they (efpccially
the girls) commonly fingfongs, in which the
words Amour and Cceur are very frequent.
In the country it is ufual, that when the
hufband receives a vifit from perfons of
rank, ''and dines with them, his wife ftands

Vol. ill. F behind

$2 Auguji 1749.

behind and ferves him ; but in the townr?,
the ladies are more diftinguiftied, and would
willingly aflume an equal, if not a fuperior,
power to their hufbands. When they go
out of doors they wear long doaks, which
cover all their other clothes, and are either
grey, brown, or blue. The men fome-
times make ufe of them, when they are
obliged to go into the rain. The women
have the advantage of being in a defiabille
tinder thefe cloaks, without any body's per-
ceiving it.

We fometimes faw v^ind-mills near the
farms. They were generally built of flone,
with a roof of boards, which, together with
its flyers, could be turned to the wind occa-
lionally.

The brecxdth of the river was not always
equal to-day ; in the narroweft place, it
w^as about a quarter of an EnghJJj mile
broad j in other parts it was near two Efig-
life miles. The {hore was fometimes high
and fceep, and fom.etimes low, or Hoping.

At three o'clock this afternoon we paf-
fcd by the river, which falls into the river
St. Laivrencey and comes from lake Cham-
plaiUi in the middle of which latter is a
large illand. The yachts which go be-
tween Montreal and ^ebec^ go on the
fouth-eafi fide of this illand, becaufe it is

deeper

Between Montreal and Trots Rivieres. 8'?

deeper there ; but the boats prefer the
north-weft fide, becaufe it is nearer, and
yet deep enough for them. Befides this
illand there are feveral more hereabouts,
which are all inhabited. Somewhat fur-
ther, the country on both (ides the river is
uninhabited, till we come to the Lac St,
Pierre j becaufe it is fo low, as to be quite
overflowed at certain times of the year.
To make up for this deficiency, the coun-
try, I am told, is as thickly inhabited fur-
ther from the river, as we found it along
the banks of the river.

Z^^aS/.P/Wt^ isapart of the river St.L<^i£^-
rence, which is fo broad that we could hardly
fee any thing but fky and water before us,
and I was every where told, that it is i^vcn
French miles long, and three broad. From
the middle of this lake as it is called, you
fee a large high country in the weft, which
appears above the woods. In the lake are
many places covered with a kind of rufti,
or Scirpus palujiris, Linn. There are no
houfes in fight on either fide of the lake,
becaufe the land is rather too low there ;
and in fpring the v/ater rifes fo high, that
they may go with boats between the trees.
However, at fome diftance from the fhores,
where the ground is higher, the farms are
clofe together. We faw no illand s in the
F 2 lake

84 -^iignft ^749'

lake this afternoon, but the next day we
met with feme.

Late in the evening we left lake
St. Pierre, and rowed up a little river
called Riviere de Loup, in order to come to
a houfe where we might pafs the night.
Having rowed about an Engiiflo mile, we
found the country inhabited on both fides
of the river. Its {hores are high; but the
country in general is flat. We palTed the
night in a farm-houfe. The territory of
Montreal extends to this place; but here
begins the jurifdi(flion of the governor of
'Trois Rivieres, to which place they reckon
eight French miles from hence.

Aiigiiji the 3d. At five o'clock in the
morning we fet out again, and firft rowed
down the little river till we came into the
lake St. Pierre, which we went downwards.
After we had gone a good way, we per-
ceived a high chain of mountains in the
north-wefl, which were very much ele-
vated above the low, flat country. The
north-wefl fhore of lake St. Pierre was
now in general very ciofely inhabited ; but
on the fouth-eafl fide we faw no houfes,
and only a country covered with woods,
which is fometimes faid to be under water,
but behind which there are, as I am told,
,a great number of farms. Towards the

end

Trots Rivieres, 85

end of the lake, the river went into its
proper bounds again, being not above a
mile and a half broad, and afterwards it
grows ftill narrower. From the end of
Lake St. Pierre to T'rois Rivieres, they
reckon xhrtzFretich miles, and about eleven
o'clock in the morning we arrived at the
latterplace, where weattendeddivinefervice.
Trois Rivieres y is a little market town,
which had the appearance of a large village;
it is however reckoned among the threegreat
towns of Ca?2ada, which are ^uebeCy Mon-
treal, and T^rois Riveres. It is faid to ly in
the middle between the two firft, and
thirty French miles diftant from each.
The town is built on the north fide of the
river St. Lawrence, on a fiat, elevated fand,
and its fituation is very pleafanr. On one
fide the river pafies by, which is here an
Englifi mile and a half broad. On the
other fide, are fine corn-fields, though the
foil is very much mixed with fand. In the
town are two churches of ftone, a nunnery,
and a houfe for the friars of the order of St.
Francis. This town is likewife the feat of
the third governor in Canada, whofe houfe
is likewife of (tone. Mofi of the other houfes
are of timber a fingle fiory high, tolerably
well built, and fi:and very much afanderi and
the ftreets are crooked. The Chore here
F '\ confifls

$6 ^^mfi 1749'

confids of fand, and the rifing grounds along
it are pretty high. When the wmd is very
violent here, it raifes the fand, and blows it
about the ftreets, making it very troublefome^
to walk in them. The nuns, which are about
twenty-two in number, are reckoned very
ingenious iq all kinds of needle-work.
This town formerly ilourifhed more than
any other in Canaduy for the Indians
brought their goods to it from all fides ; but
fince that time they go to Montreal and
§luebec, and to the EngliJJ:), on account
of their wars with the Iroquefe^ or Five
Nations, and for feveral other reafons, fo that
this town \^ at prefent very much reduced
by it. Its prefent inhabitants live chiefly
by agriculture, though the neighbouring
iron-works may ferve in fome meafure to
fupport them. About an EngUfo mile be-
low the town, a great river falls into the
river St. Lawrence^ but firfl divides into
three branches, fo that it appears as if three
rivers difembogued themfelves there. This
has given occafion to call the river and this
town, Trois Rivieres (the T^hree Rivers).

The tide goes about a French mile above
^rois Rivieres, though it is fo trifling asto be
hardly obfervable. But about the equinoxes,
and at the new moons and full moons in fpring
and autuQin, the difference between the

higheft

ftrois Rhier-es. 87

higheft and loweft water is two feet. Ac--
cordingly the tide in this river goes very
far up, for from the above mentioned place
to the fea they reckon about a hundred and
fifty French miles.

Whilst my company were refling, I
went on horfeback to view the iron-work.
The country which I pafTed through was
pretty high, fandy, and generally fiat. I
faw neither ftones nor mountains here.

The iron-iiDork, which is the only one
in this country, lies three miles to the wefl:
of Trois Rivieres. Here are two great
forges, befides two lefTer ones to each of
the great ones, and under the fame roof
with them. The bellows were made of
wood, and every thing elfe, as it is in
S'mediflo forges. The melting ovens ftand
clofe to the forges, and are the fame as
ours. The ore is got two Trciich miles
and a half from the iron works, and is
carried thither on fled2:es. It is a kind of
moor ore ^, which lies in veins, within
fix inches or a foot from the fiirface of the
ground. Each vein is from fix to eighteen
inches deep, and below it is a white fand.

The

* Tophus Tulalcaini, Linn. SyJ?. N^Jt. III. p, 1S7, ik 5.
Mimra ferri fubaquofa nigra ca-rulfcens. Wall. Mineral, p.
263. Gtrm. Ed. p. 340. n. 3. Ironockres in the fhape of
crufts, are fometimes cavcrr.ous, as the B>vjh ore, Forpi^
Mine 'ah p. 48.

The veins are fiirrounded with this fan d on
both fides, and covered at the top with a
thin mould. The ore is pretty rich and
lies in loofe kimps in the veins, of the fize
of twofifts, though there are a few which
are near eighteen inches thick. Thefe
lumps are full of holes, which are filled
with ockre. The ore is fo foft that it may
be cruflied betwixt the fingers. They
make ufe of a grey lime-flone, which is
broke in the neighbourhood, for promoting
the fufibility of the ore; to that purpofe
they likevviie employ a clay marie, which
is found near this place. Charcoals are to
be had in great abundance here, becaufe all
the country round this place is covered with
woods, which have never been ftirred.
The charcoals from ever-green trees, that
is, from the fir kind, are bell for the forge^
but thofe of (deciduous trees are bed for the
fmelting oven. The iron which' is here
made, was to me defcribed as foft, pliable,
and tough, and is faid to have the quality
of not being attacked by rull: fo eafily ?J3
other iron ; and in this point there appears
a great difference between the Spanifld iron
and this in fliip-building. This iron-work
was firfi: founded in 1737, by private perfons,
who aftervv-ards ceded it to the king; they
caft cariDon and mortars here, of different

fizes^

Trois "Rivieres. §9

fizes, iron iloves which are in ufe all ovef
Canada^ kettles, &c. not to mention the
bars which are made here. They have
Jikewife tried to make fteel here, but cannot
bring it to any great perfedion, becaufe
they are unacquainted with the bed manner
of preparing it. Here are many officers
and overfeerSj. who have very good houfes,
built on purpofe for them. It is agreed on
all hands, that the revenues of the iron-
work do not pay the expences which the
king muft every year be at in maintaining
it. They lay the fault on the bad llate of
population, and fay that the few inhabit-
ants in the country have enough to do with
agriculture, and that it therefore cofts great
trouble and large fums, to get a fufficient
number of workmen. But however plaufiblc
this may appear, yet it is furprizing that
the king (hould be a lofer in carrying on
this work ; for the ore is eafily broken,
very near the iron-work, and very fulible.
The iron is good, and can be very con-
veniently difperfed over the country. This
is moreover the only iron-work in the
country, from which every body muft fup-
ply himfelf with iron tools, and what other
iron he v/ants. But the officers and fer-
vants belonging to the iron-work, appear to
be in very affluent circumflances. A river

runs

90 Augiijl 1749.

runs down from the iron-work, into the
river St. Lawrence, by which all the iron
can be fent in boats throughout the country
at a low rate. In the evening I returned
again to 'Trois Rivieres.

Augtiji the 4th. At the dawn of day
we left this place and went on towards
^tebec. We found the lancy on the north
fide of the river fomevvhat elevated, fandy,
and clofeiy inhabited along the water fide.
The fouth-eaft (hore, we were told, is
equally well inhabited ; but the woods
along ihat iliore prevented our feeing the
houfes, which are built further up in the
country, the land clofe to the river being
fo low as to be fubjed to annual inun-
dations. Near ^rois Rivieres, the river
grows fonnewhat narrow; but it enlarges
sgain, as ibon as you come a little belov/
that place, and has the breadth of above
two EngUfe:> miles.

As we went on, we faw feveral churches
of ftone, and often very well built ones.
The fhores of the river are clofely inhabited
for about three quarters of an EngliJlD mile
up the country ; but beyond that tbe woods
and the wildernefs encreafe. All the rivulets
falling into the river St. Lawrence are like-
wife well inhabited on both fides. I ob-
fcrved throughout Canada, that the culti-

vated

Between Trots Rhieres and^ehec. 9 1

vated lands ly only along the river Sr,
JjfLwrence^ and the other rivers in the
country, the environs of towns excepted,
round which the country is all cultivated
and inhabited within the diftance of twelve
or eighteen Englifi miles. The great
iflands in the river are likewife inhabited.

The (hores of the river now became
higher, more oblique and fteep, however
they confifted chiefly of earth. Now and
then fome rivers or great brooks fall into
the river St. Lawrence, among which one
of the mofl: confiderable is the Riviere
Fuante, which unites on the fouth-ealt fide
with the St. Lawrence, about two French
miles below Trois Rivieres^ and has on its
banks, a little way from its mouth, a town
called Becancourt which is wholly inhabited
by Abenakee Lilians, who have been con-
verted to the Roman catholic religion, and
have Jefuits among them. At a great
diftance, on the north-weft fide of the river,
we faw a chain of very high mountains,
ripning from north to fouth, elevated above
the reft of the country, which is quite flat
here without any remarkable hills.

Here were feveral lime-kilns along the
river ; and the lime-ftone employed in them
is broke in the neighbouring high grounds.
It is compa<fl and grey, and the lime it yields
is pretty whits.

The

92 Augiijl 1749.

The fields here are generally Town with
wheat, oats, maize, and peafe. Gourds and
water-melons are planted in abundance near
the farms.

A Humming bird (Trochilus Colubris)
ifew among the bufhes, in a place where
we landed to day. The French call it
Oijeau mouche^ and fay it is pretty common
in Canada y and 1 have ittw it fince feveral
times at Quebec.

About five o'clock in the afternoon we
were obliged to take our night's lodgings on
ihore, the wind blowing very ftrong againft
lis, aod being attended with rain. I found
that the nearer we came to ^ebeCt the more
Qp^n and free from woods was the country.
The place where we paffed the night, is
diftant from ^ebec twelve Frenchm\\^%.

They have a very peculiar method of
catching fifh near the (hore here. They
place hedges along the fhore, made of twifted
oziers, fo clofe that no iiQi can get through
them, and from one foot to a yard high,
according to the different depth of the
water. For this purpofe they choofe fuch
places where the water runs off during the
ebb, and leaves the hedges quite dry. With-
in this inclofure they place feveral weels,
or fiih-traps, in the form of cylinders, but
broader below. They are placed upright,

apct

Between Tirois Kl-vieres and '^lehec . ^3

and are about a yard high, and two feet and
a half wide: on one fide near the bottom is
an entrance for the fiflieSj made of twigs, and
fometimesof yarn made into a net. Oppofite
to this entrance, on the other ^lA^ of the weel,
looking towards the lower part of the river,
is anotherentrance, like the (irft, and leading
to a box of boards about four foot long, two
deep, and two broad. Near each of the
weels is a hedge, leading obliquely to tbe
long hedge, and making an acute angle with
it. This latter hedge is made in order to lead
the fi{h into the trap, and it is placed on
that end of the long hedge which looks to-
wards the upper part of the river j now when
the tide comes up the river, the fiili, and
chiefly the eels, go up with it along the river
fide; when the water begins to ebb, the
fi(h likewife go down the river, and meeting;
with the hedges, they fwim along them, till
they come through the weels into the boxes
of boards, at the top of which there is a
hole with a cover, through which the fifh
could be taken out. This apparatus is
chiefly made on account of the eels. In
feme places hereabouts they place nets in-
flead of the hedges of twigs.

The iliores of the river now confiflied
no more of pure earth j but of a fpecies of
flate. They are very deep and nearly per-
pendicular

^4 ^^giifi J 74^-^

pendicukr here, and the flates of which
they coniift are black, with a brown caft^
and divifible into thin fliivers, no thicker
than the back of a knife. Thefe flates
moulder as foon as they are expofed to the
open air, and the fliore is covered with
grains of fmall fand, which are nothing but
particles of fuch mouldered flates. Some
of the fl:rata run hori2ontal, others ob-
liquely, dipping to the fouth and rifing to
the north, and fometimes the contrary way.
Sometimes they form bendings like large
femicircles : fometimes a perpendicular line
cuts off the flrata, to the depth of two feet s
and the flates on both fides of the line from
a perpendicular and fmooth wall. In fome
places hereabouts, they find amongft the
flates, a ftratum about four inches thick
of a grey, compad:, but pretty foft lime-
Hone, of which the Indiatis for many
centuries have made, and the French at pre^
fent fiill make, tobacco-pipes*.

Aiigiifi the 5th. This morning, we con^
tinued our journey by rowing, the contrary
wind hindering us from failing. The ap^

pearance

* This Hme-ltcne, feems to be a marie, or rather a kind
of flone-marle: for there is a whitifn kind of it in the
Kri?n-Turtary, and near Stiva or Thebes, in Greece, which
is employed by the Turks and Tartars for making heads of
pipes, and that from the firft place is called Kefftkil, and in
the latter, Sea- Scum: it may be very eafily cut, but gfows
harder in time. F.

Between ^roh Rivieres dnd ^.ehec. g^

pearance of the (liores, was the fame as
yeflerday ; they were high, pretty deep, and
quite perpendicular^ and confided of the
black date before defcribed. The country
at the top was a plain without eminences,
and clofely inhabited along the river, for
about the fpace of an E?ig!iJJj mile and a
halfin-land. Here are no illands in this
part of the river, but feverai dony places,
perceptible at low water only, which have
feverai times proved fatal to travellers. The
breadth of the river varies; in fome parts
it was a little more than three quarters ot 2l
mile, in others half a mile, and in fome
above two miles. The inhabitants made
ufe of the fame method of catching eels
along the fliores here, as that which i have
juft before mentioned. In many places
they make ufe of nets made of ofiers inilead
of the hedge.

BaGs {Cimex kSlidarius) abound \nCa?2aaai,
and I met with' them in every place where I
lodged, both in the towns and country, and
the people know of no other remedy for
them than patience.

The Crickets {Grylliis domefiicus) are al fo
abundant in Canada, efpecially in the coun-
try, where thefc difagrecable guefts lodge
in the chimnies \ nor are they uncommon
in the towns. They day here both fummer

ai.d

g6 Auguji 1749.

and winter, and frequently cut clothes in
pieces for paftime.

The Cockroaches [Blatta orientalis)h2^vG
never been found in the houfes here.

The fhores of the river grow more Hop-
ing as you come nearer to ^ebec. To the
northward appears a high ridge of moun-
tains. About two French miles and a half
from ^lebec^ the river becomes very nar-
row, the fhores being within the reach of
a mulket fhot from each other. The coun-
try on both fides was Hoping, hilly, cover-
ed with trees, and had many fmall rocks ;
the (liore was ftony. About four o'clock
in the afternoon we happily arrived at §lue-
bec. The city does not appear till one is
clofe to it, the profped: being intercepted
by a high mountain on the fouth fide. How-
ever, a part of the fortifications appears at
a good diftance, being fituate on the fami
mountain. As foon as the foldiers, who
were with u?, faw ^lebeCy they called out,
that all thofe who had never been there be-
fore, (liould be ducked, if they did not pay
fomething to releafe themfelves. This cuf-
tom even the governor-general of Canada
is obliged to fubmit to, on his firll: journey
to Montreal. We did not care when we
came in fight of this town to be exempted
from this old cuilom, which is very ad-
vantageous

§luebec* 97

vantageous to the rowers, as it enables them
to fpend a merry evening on their arrival
at ^ebecy after their troublefome labour.

Immediately after my arrival, the of-
ficer who had accompanied me from Mont-^
real, led me to the palace of the then vice-
govenor-general of Canada^ the marquis la
Galijfonniere, a nobleman of uncommon
qualities, who behaved towards me with
extraordinary goodnefs, during the time
he ftaid in this country. He had already
ordered fome apartments to be got ready
for me, and took care to provide me with
every thing I wanted; befides honouring
me fo far to invite me to his table, almoft
every day I was in town.

Auguji the 6th. ^lebec, the chief city
in Canada^ lies on the weftern fhore of the
river St. ttawrencey clofe to the water's
edge, on a neck of land, bounded by that
river on the eaft fide, and by the river St,
Charles on the north fide; the mountain, on
which the town is built, rifes flill higher
on the fouth fide, and behind it begin great
paftures ; and the fame mountain likewife
extends a good way wefbward. The city
is diftinguifhed into the lower and the up-»
per*. The lower lies on the river, eail«

* La haute Villc ^ la bajfe Ville,

Vol. IIL G ward

gS Augiift 1749.

v/ard of the upper. The neck of lane!,
I mentioned before, was formed by the
dirt and filth, which had from time to time
been accumulated there, and by a rock
which lay that way, not by any gradual
diminution of the water. The upper city
lies above the other, on a high hill, and
takes up five or fix times the fpace of the
lower, though it is not quite fo populous.
The mountain, on which the upper city is
fituated, reaches above the houfes of the
lower city. Notwithftanding the latter are
th,ee or four ftories high, and the view,
from the palace, of the lower city (part of
which is immediately under it) is enough
to caufe a fwimming of the head. There
is only one eafy way of getting to the up-
per city, and there part of the mountain
has been blown up. This road is very
fleep, notwithftanding it is made winding
and ferpentine. However, they go up and
down it in carriages, and with waggons.
All the other roads up the mountain are
fo fteep, that it is very difficult to climb to
the top by them. Moft of the merchants
live in the lower city, where the houfes
are built very clofe together. The ftreets
in it are narrow, very rugged, and almoll:
always wet. There is likewife a church,,
and a fmall market-place. The upper city

is

^tebec. 99

is inhabited by people of quality, by feve-
ral perfons belonging to the different offi-
ces, by tradefmen, and others. In this part
are the chief buildings of the town, among
which the following are worthy particular
notice.

I. The Palace is fituated on the weft or
fteepeft fide of the mountain, juft above
the lower city. It is not properly a pa-
lace, but a large building of ftone, two
ftories high, extending north and fouth;
On the weft fide of it is a court-yard, fur-
rounded partly with a wall, and partly wi^h
houfes. On the eafi; fide, or towards the
river, is a gallery as long as the whole
building, and about two fathom broad^
paved with fmooth flags, and included on
the outfides by iron rails, from whence the
city and the river exhibit a charming pro-
Iped:. This gallery ferves as a very agree-
able walk after dinner, and thofe who
come to fpeak with the governor-general
wait here till he is at leifure. The palace
is the lodging of the governor-general of
Canada, and a number of foldiers mount
the guard before it, both at the gate and
in the court-yard j and when the gover-
nor, or the biiliop, comes in or goes out^
they muft all appear in arms, and beat
the drum. The governor-general has his
G 2 own

lOO Augiijl 1749.

own chapel where he hears prayers j how-
ever, he often goes to mafs at the church
of the Reeolets *, which is very near the
palace.

II. The Churches in this town are feven
or eight in number, and all built of ftone.

1. The Cathedral church is on the right
hand, coming from the lower to the upper
city, fomewhat beyond the bifliop's houfe.
The people were at prefent employed in
ornamenting it. On its weft fide is a round
fteeple, with two divifions, in the lower of
which are fome bells. The pulpit, and
fome other parts within the church, are
gilt. The feats are very fine.

2. The Jefiiits church is built in the
form of a crofs, and has a round fteeple.
This is the only church that has a clock,
and I (hall mention it more particularly
below.

3. The Reeolets church is oppofite the
gate of the palace, on the weft fide, looks
well, and has a pretty high pointed fteeple,
with a divifion below for the bells.

4. The church of the VrfuUnes has a
round fpire.

5. The church of the hofpital.

6. The bifliop's chapel.

7. The

• A kind of Franci/can frIars, called Ord» Sti. Franci/d\
JlriSiioris ob/ervantia.

^ebec. 1 0 1

7. The church in the lower city was
built in 1690, after the town had been de-
livered from the Englijhy and is called No-
ire Dame de la ViSloire. It has a fmall
fteeple in the middle of the roof, fquare
at the bottom, and round at the top.

8. The little chapel of the governor-
general, may likewife be ranked amongft
thefe churches.

III. The bifliop's houfe is the firft, on
the right hand, coming from the lower
to the upper town. It is a fine large
building, furrounded by an extenfive court-
yard and kitchen-garden on one fide, and
by a wall on the other.

IV. The college of the Jefuits, which
I will defcribe more particularly. It has
a much more noble appearance, in regard
to its fize and architedure, than the pa-
lace itfelf, and would be proper for a pa-
lace if it had a more advantageous fitua-
tion. It is about four times as large as the
palace, and is the finefl: building in town.
It ftands on the north fide of a market, on
the fouth fide of which is the cathedral.

V. The houfe of the Recolets lies to the
weft, near the palace and directly over
againft it, and confifts of a fpacious build-
ing, with a large orchard, and kitchen-
garden. The houfe is two ftories high.

G 3 In

102 Augtifl 1749.

In each ftory is a narrow gallery with rooms
and halls on one, or both fides.

VI. The Hotel de DieUy where the fick
are taken care of, fhall be defcribed in the
fequel. The nuns, that ferve the fick^ are
of the Augufiine order.

VII. The houfe of the clergy* is a large
buildingj on the north-eaft fide of the ca-
thedral. Here is on one fide a fpacious
court, and on the other, towards the river,
a great orchard, and kitchen-garden. Of
all the buildings in the town none has fo
fine a profped as that in the garden be-
longing to this houfe, which lies on the
high fhore, and looks a good way down
the river. The Jefuits on the other hand
have the worft, and hardly any profpedl at
all from their college -, nor have the Reco-
lets any fine views from their houfe. Iri
this building all the clergy of ^lebec lodge
with their fuperior. They have large pieces
of land in feveral parts of Canada, pre-
fented to them by the government, from
which they derive a very plentiful income.

VIII. The convent of the IJrfuline nuns
jfhall be mentioned in the lequel.

These are all the chief public buildings
in the town, but to the north-weft, juft
^^fpre the town, is

* he Seminaire^

IX. The houfe of the intendant, a pub-
lic building, whofe lize makes it fit for a
palace. It is covered with tin, and ftands
in a fecond lower town, fituated fouth-
ward upon the river St. Charles. It has a
large and fine garden on its north fide. In
this houfe all the deliberations concerning
this province, are held ; and the gentlemen
who have the management of the police
and the civil povv'er meet here, and the in-
tendant generally prefides. In affairs of
great confequence the governor-general is
likewife here. On one fide of this houfe
is the ftore-houfe of the crown, and on the
other the prifon.

Most of the houfes in ^lebec are built
of ftone, and in the upper city they are
generally but one ftory high, the public
buildings excepted. I faw a few wooden
houfes in the town, but they mufi; not be
rebuilt when decayed. The houfes and
churches in the city are not built of bricks,
but the black lime-flates of w^hich the
mountain confifts, whereon ^lebec fiands.
When thefe lime-flates are broke at a good
depth in the mountain, they look very corn-
pad: at firft, and appear to have no fliivers,
or lamellce, at all ; but after being expofed
a while to the air, they feparate into thin
leaves. Thefe flates are foft, and eafily
G 4 cut ;

t©4 '^^^K^ffi I749-

Cut ; and the city-walls, together with the
garden- walls, confifl chiefly of them. The
roofs of the public buildings are covered
With common flates, which are brought
from France, becaufe there are none in Ca-
71 a da.

The flated roofs have for fome years with-
ilood the changes of air and weather, without
faffering any damage. The private houfes
have roofs of boards, which are laid parallel
to the fpars, and fometimes to the eaves, or
fometimes obliquely. The corners of houfes
are made of a grey fmall grained lioie-ftone,
which has a ftrong fmell, like the Jlmk-
Jlone^t and the windows are generally en-
chafed with it. This lime-Hone is more
ufeful in thofe places than the linie-flates,
which always fhivcr in the air. The out-
fides of the houfes are generally , white-
wafhed. The windows are placed on the
inner fide of the walls ; for they have fome-
times double windows in winter. The
middle roof has two, or at mod three fpars,
covered with boards only. The rooms are
warmed in winter by fmall iron ftoves,
which are removed in fummer. The floors
are very dirty in every houfe, and have all

the

* iihrnm fuitlum, Linn. Syft. Ill, p. 86. Lapis fuillus
prifmaticus Waller. Mineral, p. 59. a. I. Stink-]ione,Fof'-
.ffr'5 Introd. to Mineralogy, p. 40.

^ehec. 105

the appearance of being cleaned but once
every year.

The Powder magazine ftands on the
fummit of the mountain, on which the
city is buih, and fouthward of the palace.

The ftreets in the upper city have a
fufficient breadth, but are very rugged, on
account of the rock on which it lies ; and
this renders them very difagreeable and
troublefome, both to foot-paflcngers and
carriages. The black lime-flates bafTet out
and project every where into fliarp angles,
which cut the (hoes in pieces. The ftreets
crofs each other at all angles, and are very-
crooked.

The many great orchards and kitchen-
gardens, near the houfe of the Jefuits, and
c^^er public and private buildings, make
the town appear very large, though the
number of houfes it contains is not very
confiderable. Its extent from fouth to
north is faid to be about fix hundred toifes,
and from the fliore of the river along
the lower town, to the weflern wall be-
tween three hundred and fifty, and four
hundred toifes. It mufl be here obferved,
thit this fpace is not yet wholly inhabited ^
for on the weft and fouth fide, along the
tOv\ n wallSj are large pieces of land with-
out any buildings on them, and deflined to
6 be

io6 Aiigiijl 1749.

be built upon in future times, when the
number of inhabitants u^ill be encreafed in

The biOiop, whofe fee is in the city, is
the only bi(hop in Canada. His diocefe
extends to Louifiana^ on the Mexican gulf
fouthward, and to the fouth-feas weftward.

No bilhop, the pope excepted, ever had
a more extenlive diocefe. But his fpiritual
flock is very inconfiderable at fome difl-
ance from ^ebec^ and his fiieep are often
many hundred miles dillant from each
other.

^ebec is the only fea-port and trading
town in all Canada^ and from thence all
the produce of the country is exported.
The port is below the town in the river,
which is there about a quarter of a French
mile broad, twenty-five fathoms deep, and
its ground is very good for anchoring. The
fhips are fecured from. all ftorms in this
port; however, the north-eaft wind is the
worft, becaufe it can adt more powerfully.
When I arrived here, I reckoned thirteen
great and fmall velTels, and they expeded
more to come iw. But it is to be remark-
sd, that no other fliips than French ones
can come into the port, though they may
come from any place in France^ and like-
v/ife from the French polleffions in the

Wed^
2

^lebec. 1 07

JVefi-lndies. All the foreign goods, which
are found in MontreaU and other parts of
Canaddy mud be taken from hence. The
French merchants from Montreal on their
fide, after making a fix months ftay among
feveral Indian nations, in order to purchafe
fkins of beafts and furrs, return about the
end of Aiigufi^ and go down to ^lebec in
Septe?nber or OBober^ in order to fell their
goods there. The privilege of felling the
imported goods, it is faid, has vafily en-
riched the merchants of ^lebec , but this
is contradid;ed by others, who allow that
there are a few in affluent circumftances,
but that the generality pofiefs no more
than is abfolutely necefiary for their bare
fubfiftence, and that feveral are very much
in dfbt, which they fay is owing to their
luxury and vanity. The merchants drefs
very finely, and are extravagant in their
repafcs ; and their ladies are every day in
full drefs, and as much adorned as if they
were to go to court.

The town is furrounded on almofl: all fides
by a high wall, and efpecially towards the
land. It was not quite completed when I
was there, and they were very bufy in finilh-
ing it. It is built of the above mentioned
black iime-flate, and of a dark-grey fand-
(lone. For the corners of the gates they

have

soS Augujl 1749.

have employed a grey lime-ftone. They
have not made any vi^alls towards the vi^ater
iide, but nature Teems to have worked for
them, by placing a rock there which it is
impoffible to alcend. All the rifing land
thereabouts is likewife fo well planted v/ith
cannon, that it feems impoflible for an
enemy's fhips or boats to come to the town
without running into imminent danger of
being funk. On the land fide the town is
likewife guarded by high mountains fo that
nature and art have combined to fortify
it.

^tebcc was founded by its former go*
vernor, Samuel de Champlain, in the year
1608, We are informed by hiftory, that
its rife was very flow. In 1629 towards
the end of Jiify it was taken by two
EngiiJJomen Lewis and Thomas Kerk, by
capitulation, and furrendcred to them by the
above mentioned de Champlain. At that
time, Canada and ^ebec were wholly
destitute of provifions, fo that they looked
upon the Englifl^ more as their deliverers,
than their enemies. The abovementioned
Kerks^ were the brothers of the Engiijh
admiral David Kerk, who lay with his
fleet fomewhat lower in the river. In the
year 1632, the French got the town of
§luebec, and all Canada returned to them

by

^ehec, 1 09

by the peace. It Is remarkable, that the
French were doubtful whether they fliould
reclaim Canada from the Rngliffo or leave
it to them. The greater part were of
opinion that to keep it would be of no
advantage to France, becaufe the country
was cold J and the expences far exceeded its
produce; and becaufe France could not
people fo extenlive a country without
weakening herfelf, as Spain had done before.
That it was better to keep the people in
Franccy and employ them in all forts of
manufadures, which would oblige the
other European powers who have colonies
in America to bring their raw goods to
French ports, and take French manufadiures
in return. Thofe on the other hand who
had more extenlive views knew that the
climate was not fo rough as it had been re-
prefented. They likewife believed that
that which caufed the expences was a fault
of the company, becaufe they did not
manage the country well. They would
not have many people fent over at once,
but little by little, fo that France might
not feel it. They hoped that this colony
would in future times make France power-
ful, for its inhabitants would become more
and more acquainted with the herrini:,
whale, and cod fiftieries, and likewife with

the

lid Augiijl 1749.

the taking of feals , and that by this means
Canada would become a fchool for training
up feamen. They further mentioned the
feveral forts of furrs, the converfion of the
Indians, the Oiip-building, and the various
ufes of the extenfive v/oods. And laflly
that it would be a confiderable advantage
to France, even though they fliould reap
no other benefit, to hinder by this means
the prog re fs of the EngliJJj in America^ and
of their encreafing power, which would
otherwife become infupportable to France i
not to mention feveral other reafons. Time
has fhewn that thefe reafons were the refult
of mature judgment, and that they laid the
foundation to therifecf JPr/???<:^. It were to be
wiihed that we had been of the fame opinion
mSivedcn, at a time when w.e wereadually
in poffcffion of Ne%v Sweden, the finefl and
beii province in all North America, or when
we were yet in a condition to get the pof-
ieffion of it. Wifdom and forefight does
not only look upon the prefent times, but
even extends its views to futurity.

In the year 1663 at the beginning of
February, the great earthquake was felt in
^ebec and a great part o^ Canada, and there
are ftill fome veftiges of its effeds at that
time; however, no lives v/ere lofL

On

Quebec. 1 1 1

On the 1 6th of OBober 1690, 9^ebec
was befieged by the Englifi general William
PhipSy who was obhged to retire a few days
after with great lofs. The Englifj have
tried feveral times to repair their loffes, but
the river St. Lawrence has always been a
very good defence for this country. An
enemy, and one that is not acquainted with
this river, cannot go upwards in it, without
being ruined; for in the neighbourhood of
^ebeCy it abounds with hidden rocks, and
has ftrong currents in fome places, which
oblige the fliips to make many windings.

The name of ^cbec it is faid is derived
from a Norman word, on account of its
fituation on a neck or point of land. For
when one comes up in the river hy T Ifie
d'OrJeanSy that part of the river St. Law-
re?ice does not come in fight, which lies
above the town, and it appears as if the
river St. Charles which lies jufl before, was
a continuation of the St. Lawrence. But
on advancing further the true ccurfe of the
river comes within fight, and has at firft a
great fimiiarity to the mouth of a river or
a great bay. This has given occaiion to a
failor, who faw it unexpedtedly, to cry out
in his provincial dialect ^e bee *, that isy
what a point of land ! and from hence it is

thought;

* Meaning ^el bee.

112 -^^mfi i749«

thought the city obtained its name. Others
derive it from the Algonki?t word ^ebego
or ^ebec flgnifying that which grows nar-
row, becaufe the river becomes narrower as
it comes nearer to the town.

The river St. Lawrencey is exa(5lly a
quarter of a French mile, or three quarters
of an Englijh mile broad at ^ebec. The
fait water never comes up to the town in it,
and therefore the inhabitants can make ufe
of the water in the river for their kitchens,
&c. All accounts agree that notwithftand-
ing the breadth of this river, and the vio-
lence of its courfe, efpecially during ebb, it
is covered with ice during the whole winter,
which is ftrong enough for walking, and a
carriage may go over it. It is faid to happen
frequently that, when the river has been
open in May, there are fuch cold nights in
this month, that it freezes again, and will
bear walking over. This is a clear proof
of the intenfenefs of the froft here, efpecially
when one conliders that which I fliall men-
tion immediately after, about the ebbing
and flowing of the tide in this river. The
greateft breadth of the river at its mouth,
is computed to be twenty-fix French miles
or feventy-eight EngHjlj miles, though the
boundary between the fea, and the river
cannot well be afcertained as the latter
gradually loofes itfelf in, and unites with

the

^ebec, 113

the former. The greateft part of the water
QDntained in the numerous lakes of Canada,
four or five of which are Hke large feas, is
forced to difembogue into the fea by means
of this river alone. The navigation up this
river from the fea is rendered very danger-
ous by the ftrength of the current, and by
the number of fand-banks, which often
arife in places where they never were be-
fore. The Riiglifi have experienced this
formation of new fands once or twice,
when they intend to conquer Canada.
Hence the French have good reafons to
look upon the river as a barrier to
Canada*.

The tide goes far beyond ^ehec in the
river St. Lawrence, as I have mentioned
above. The difference between high and
low water is generally between fifteen and
fixteen feet, French meafure; but with the
new and full moon, and when the v/ind is
likewife favourable, the difference is feven-
teen or eighteen feet, which is indeed very
confiderable.

* The river St. La^-vjrence, was no more a barrier to tl^e
viftorious Britijh fleets in the ]aft war, nor were the fortifi-
cations of i^ielec capable to withitand thegallar.t attacks of
their land army, which difappointed the good frenchmen in
Canada of their too fanguine expedcations, and at prelent,
they are rather happy at this change of fortune, which has
made them fubjeds of the Britijh fceptre, whofe niild in-
/luence they at prefent enjoy. F, •

Vol. III. \l /iiigufi

114 ^^fg^ifi V49-

Aiigiift \\\^'-j\^.. Ginfeng is the current
French name in Canada^ of a plant, the
root of vv^hich, has a very great value in
C/ilna^. It has been growing fince times
immemorial in the ChJnefe Tartary and in
Corea, where it is annually colleded and
brought to China. Father Du Halde fitys,
it is the moft precious, and the moft ufeful
of all the plants in eaftern Tartary, and
attracts, every year, a number of people into
the deferts of that country. The Man-
teclioiix-Tartars call it Or hot a^ that is the
moft noble, or the queen of plants-f*. The
Tartars and Chinefe praife it very much,
and afcribe to it the power of curing feveral
dangerous difeafes, and that of reftoring to
tlie body new ftrength, and fupplying the
lofs cauled by the exertion of the mental,
and corporeal faculties. An ounce of
Ginfeng bears the furprizing price of (tsKta
or eij^ht ounces of filver at PckhiQ-. When
the French botanifts in Canada firft faw a
figure of it, they remembered to have ittn

* Botanifls know this plant by the name of Panax quin-
qiicfolivjn, foliis ternatis quinatis Linn. Mat. Med. § Ii6.
bp. plant, p. iq. 12. Grono-v. F!. Firg. p. 147. See like
wife Cafcjhfs Nat. Hill of Cardina. Vol. III. p. 16. t. 16.
L^ffifaic Ginf. 51. t. I . Father Charle^joix Hift. de la Nou-
vclie Fiance. Tom. IV. p. 308. tig. XIII. and Tom. V.
p. 24.

t PiUr Osk\Fs voyage to China, Vol. I. p. 223.

^e3ec, 1 1 _j

k fimiliar plant in this country. They wer®
confirnried in their conjediiire by confidering
that feveral fettlements in Canada, ly under
the fame latitude with thofe parts of the
Chinefe 'Tartary, and C/ujia, where the true
Gi?jfe?2g grows wild. They fucceeded in
their attempt, and found the fame Ginfeng
wild and abundant in feveral parts oi ISlorth-
America^ both in French and E?iglifi plant-
ations, in plain parts of the woods. It is
fond of fhade, and of a deep rich mould,
and of land which is neither wet nor high.
It is not every where very common, for
fometimes one may fearch the woods for
the fpace of feveral miles without finding a
fingle plant of it ; but in thofe fpots where
it grows it is always found in great abund-
ance. It flowers in May and June, and its
berries are ripe at the end of Auguji. It
bears tranfplanting very well, and will fooii
thrive in its new ground. Some people
here, who have gathered the berries, and
put them into their kitchen gardens, told
me that they lay one or two years in the
ground without coming up. Tht Iroquefcy
• or Five (Six) Nations, call the Ginfeng
roots Garangtoging, which it is fa id figni-
fies a child, the roots bearing a faint re-
femblance to it : but others are of opinion
that they mean the thigh and \c^ by it, and
H 2 the

Ii6 Augtiji 1749.

the roots look pretty like it. The French
ufe this root for curing the afthma, as a
ftomachic, and to promote fertiHty in wo-
man. The trade which is carried on with
it here is very brifk ; for they gather great
quantities of it, and fend them to France,
from whence they are brought to China,
and fold there to great advantage *. It is
faid the merchants in France met with
amazing fuccefs in this trade at the firll
outfet, but by continuing to fend the Gin-
feng over to China, its price is fallen con-
fiderably there, and confequently in France
and Canada ; however, they ftill find their
account in it.^ In the fummer of 1748, a
pound of Ginfeng was fold for fix Francs,
or Livres, 2X^ebec ; but its common price
here is one hundred Sols, or five Livres,
During my flay in Canada, all the merch-
ants at ^lehec and Montreal, received orders
from their correfpondents in France to fend^
over a quantity of Ginfeng, there being an
uncommon demand tor it this fummer.
The roots were accordingly colleded in
Canada with all pofTible diligencej the

* Mr. OJbeck feems to doubt whether the Europeans reap
any advantages from the Ginfeng trade or not, becaufe the
Chinefe do not value the Canada roots fo much as thofe of
the Chinefe-Tartary and therefore the former bear fcarce half
the price of the latter. See Ofoeck's Voyage to China, Vol.
I. p. 233» F.

Indians

^ehec. 117

Indians efpecially travelled about the country
in order to colleft as much as they could to-
gether, and to fell it to the merchants at
Montreal, The Indians in the neighbour-
hood of this town were likewife fo much
taken up with this bufinefs, that the French
farmers were not able during that time to
hire a fingle hidian, as they commonly do,
to help them in the harveft. Many people
feared left by continuing for feveral fuc-
ceffive years, to colled: thefe plants without
leaving one or two in each place to propa-
gate their fpecies, there would foon be very
few of them left; which I think is very
likely to happen, for by all accounts they
formerly grew in abundance round Mon-
treal, but at prefent there is not a fingle
plant of it to be found, fo efFed:ually have
they been rooted out. This obliged the
Indians this fummer to go far within the
EngliJJo boundaries to collect thefe roots.
After the Indians have fold the frefh roots
to the merchants, the latter muft take a
great deal of pains with them. They are
fpread on the floor to dry, which commonly
requires two months and upwards, according
as the feafon is wet or dry. During that
time they muft be turned once or twice
every day, left they ftiould putrify or moul-
dero Ginfeng has never been found far
H 3 north

ii8 Augiifi 1749.

north of Montreal. The fuperlor of the
clergy, here and feveral other people, affbred
me that the Chinefe value the Canada Gin-
feng as much as the Tartariafi^ -, and that no
one ever had been entirely acquainted witli
the Chinefe method of preparing it. However
it is thought that amongft; other prepa-
rations they dip the roots in a decoction of
the leaves of Ginfeng. The roots prepared
by the Chinefe are almoft tranfparent, and
look like horn in the inlide j and the roots
which are fit for ufe, muft be heavy and
compacft in the infide.

The plant which throughout Canada
bears the name of Herba capillaris is like-
wife one of thofe with which a great trade
is carried on in Canada. The Englifi in
their plantations call it Maiden- hair -, it
grows in all their North- American colonies,
which I travelled through, and likewife in
the fouthern parts of Canada -, but I never
found it near ^ebec. It grows in the
woods in fhady places and in a good foil '\,
Several people in Albany and Canada, alTured
me that its leaves were very much ufed in-

* This is direaiy oppofite to Mr. OJheck's affertion. See
the preceding page, 114. note f. F.

f It is the Adiantum pedatum of Linn, fp, pi. p. 1557-
Co^mdiiSy in his Canadenf. plant, hijicria, p. 7. calls it Jdii
antum Jmcricanum, and gives together with the defcription,
a figure of it, p. 6.

Ilea4

^ehcc. 1 1 9

flead of tec, in confumptions, coughs, and
all kinds of pedoral difeafes. This they
have learnt from the Indians, who have
made ufe of this plant for thefe purpofes
lince times immemorial. This American
maiden-hair is reckoned preferable in furgery
to that which we have in Ein'ope-f -, and
therefore they fend a great quantity of it to
France, every year. The price is different,
and regulated according to the goodnefs of
the plant, the care in preparing it, and the
quantity which is to be got. For if it be
brought to ^ebec in great abundance, the
price falls 3 and on the contrary it rifes, when
the quantity gathered is but fmall. Com-
monly the price at Quebec is betiveen live
and fifteen fols a pound. The Indians went
into the v/oods about this time, and travelled
far above Montreal in quefl: of thiy plant.

The Kitchen herbs, fucceed very well here.
The white cabbage is very fine, but fome-
times fufxers greatly from worms. Onions
fAlliiuncepa) are very much in ufe here, to-
gether with other fpecies of ieeks. They like-
wife plant feveral fpecies of gourds, melons,
fallads, wild fuccory or wild endive (C/r/wr/2/;/2
Intybus), feveral kinds of peafe, beans, French
beans, carrots, and cucumbers. They have

\ Adlantum Capillus Feneris. True Maiden-hair.

II 4 plenty

i±o Augujl J 749.

plenty of red beets, horferadi£hes and
common raddifhes, thyme, and marjoram.
^urneps are fown in abundance, and ufed
chicHv in winter. Farfneps are fometimes
eaten, though not very comaion. Few
people took notice of potatoes ; and neither
the cor^imon {^Solarium tiiberojuni) nor the
Bermuda ones {Convolvulus Batatas) were
planted in Canada^ When the French here
are afked why they do not plant potatoes,
they anfwer that they cannot find any re]jfh
in them, and they laugh at the Englifi who
are fo fond of them. Throughout ali North"
America the root cabbage* [Braffica gon-
gylodes, Linn. ) is unknown to the Swedes,
ILnglijldi Dutch, Lrljlo, Gennans, and French^
Thofe who have been employed in fowmg and
planting kitchen herbs in Canada, and have
had fome experience in gardening, told me
that they were obliged to fend for frefli
feeds from France every year, becaufe they
commonly loofe their ftrength here in the
third generation, and do not produce fuch
plants as would equal the original ones in
tade and goodnefs.

* This is a kind of cabbnge, with hrge round eatable
roots, which grow out above che ground wherein it differs
from the turnep-cabage (BraJJJca N:.pol?ra£i--aj whole root
grows in the ground. Both a:e common in Germany, an4
ihe former likewife in hafj.

This

^e^ec, 121

The Europeans have never been able to
find any charadters, much lefs writings, or
books, among the Indians^ who have in-
habited North-America fince time imme-
morial, and feem to be all of one nation,
and fpeak the fame language. Thefe /«•
dians have therefore lived in the greateil
ignorance and darknefs, during fome cen-
turies, and are totally unacquainted with
the flate of their country before the arri-
val of the 'Europeans^ and all their know-
ledge of it confifts in vague traditions, and
mere fables. It is not certain whether any
other nations pofTefTed America, before the
prefent Indian inhabitants came into it, or
whether any other nations vifited this part
of the globe, before Columbus difcovered
it. It is equally unknown, whether the
Chrijiian religion was ever preached here
in former times. I converfed with feveral
Jefuits, who undertook long journies in
this extenlive country, and a/ked them,
whether they had met with any marks that
there had formerly been fome Chrijlians
among the Indians which lived here ? but
they all anfwered, they had not found any.
The Indians have ever been as ignorant of
architedlure and manual labour, as of
fcience and writing. In vain does one
feek for well built towns and houfes, ar-
tificial

122 Auglljl 1749.

tificlal fortifications, high towers and pil-
lars, and fuch Hke, atijong them, which
the old world can flievi-, from the mofl
antient times. Their dwelling-places are
wretched huts of bark, expofed on all
fides to wind, and rain. All their ma-
fonry-work confifts in placing a few grey
rock-ftones on the ground, round their
fire-place, to prevent the firebrands from
fpreading too far in their hut, or rather to
mark out the fpace intended for the fire-
place in it. Travellers do not enjoy a tenth
part of the pleafure in traverfing thefe
countries, which they mufl receive on their
journies through our old countries, where
they, almofc every day, meet with fome
veftige or other of antiquity: now an an^
tient celebrated town prefents itfelf to view;
here the remains of an old caflle; there a
field where, many centuries ago, the moft
powerful, and the moft fliiiful generals,
and the greateft kings, fought, a bloody
battle ; now the native fpot and refidence
of fome great or learned man. In fuch
places the mind is delighted in various ways,
and reprefents all paft occurrences in living
colours to itfslf. We can enjoy none of
thefe pleafures in America. The hiftory of
the country can be traced no further, than
from the arrival of the Europeans ; for eve-

^ebec. 123

ty thing that happened before that period,
is more like a fidion or a dream, than any
thing that really happened. In later times
there have, however, been found a fcv^
marks of antiquity, from which it may be
conjedtured, that North- America was for-
merly inhabited by a nation more verfed in
fcience, and more civilized, than that which
the 'Europeans found on their arrival here j
or that a great military expedition was
undertaken to th?s continent, from thefe
known parts of the world.

This is confirmed by an account, vt'hich
I received from Mr. de Fcrandrier, who
has commanded the expedition to the fouth-
fea in perfon, pf which I fhall prefently
give an account. I have heard it repeated
by others, who have been eye-witneiTes of
every thing that happened on that occa-
fion. Some years before I came into Ca-
nada, the then governor-general. Chevalier
de Beauharnoisy gave Mr. de Vcrandrier an
order to go from Ca7tada, with a number
of people, on an expedition acrofs North-
America to the fouth-fea, in order to exa-
mine, how far thofe two places are diftant
from each other, and to find out, what
advantages might accrue to Canada, or
Liouifianay from a communication with that
ocean. They fet out on horfeback from

Montreal^

124 Augiifi 1749.

Montreal, and went as much due well: as
they could, on account of the lakes, ri-
vers, and mountains, which fell in their
way. As they came far into the country,
beyond many nations, they fometimes met
with large trads of land, free from wood,
but covered with a kind of very tall grafs,
for the fpace of fome days journey. Many
of thefe fields were every where covered
with furrows, as if they had been ploughed
and fown formerly. It is to be obferved,
that the nations, which now inhabit North-
America, could not cultivate the land in
this manner, becaufe they never made ufe
of horfes, oxen, ploughs, or any inftru-
ments of hufbandry, nor had they ever feen a
plough before the Europeans came to them.
In two or three places, at a confiderable
diftance from each other, our travellers
met with impreffions of the feet of
grov/n people and children, in a rock -, but
this feems to have been no more than a
Liiftis Naturae. When they came far to
the weft, where, to the beft of their know-
ledge, no Frenchmen, or European, had
ever been, they found in one place in the
woods, and again on a large plain, great
pillars of ftone, leaning upon each other.
The pillars confifted of one fingle ftone
each, and the Frenchmen could not but

fuppofe.

^ehec. 125

fuppofe, that they had been ereded by
human hands. Sometimes they have found
fuch ftones laid upon one another, and, as
it were, formed into a wall. In fome of
thofe places where they found fuch ftones,
they could not find any other forts of
flones. They have not been able to dif-
cover any charadiers, or writing, upon any
of thefe ftones, though they have made
a very careful fearch after them. At laffc
they met with a large (lone, like a pillar,
and in it a fmaller ftone was fixed, which
was covered on both fides v/ith unknown
charadlers. This ftone, which was about
a foot of French meafure in length, and
between four or five inches broad, they
broke loofe, and carried to Canada with
them, from whence it was fent to France,
to the fecretary of ftate, the count of Maii-
repas. What became of it afterwards is
unknown to them, but they think it is yet
preferved in his colkcflion. Several of
the Jefuits, who have feen and handled
this ftone in Canada, unanimouily atlirm,
that the letters on it, are the fame with
thofe which in the books, containing ac-
counts oi Tataria, are called Tatarian cha-
raders *, and that, on comparing both to-
gether,

* This account fsems to be highly probable, for we find

in

126 Augujl 1749.

gether, they found them perfe6:ly alike^^
Notwithlianding the queftions which the

French

in Marco Paolo, that Kithlai-Khan, one of the fucceflbrs of
Ge-nghizkhan, after the conqueft of the fouthern part of
China, fent fhips out, to conquer the kingdom of Japan,
or, as they call it, Nipan-gri, but in a terrible llorm the
whole fleet was call away, and nothing was ever heard of
the men in that fleet. It feems that fome of thefe fhips
were call to the Azores, oppofite the great America7i lakes,
between forty and fifty degrees north latitude, and there
probably ereded thefe monumentF, and were the ancellors
of fome nations, who are called Mozetnlecks, and have fome
degree of civilization. Another part of this fleet, it feems,
reached the country oppofite Mexico, and there founded the
Mexican ejr.pire, which, according to their own records, as
preferred by the Spaniards, and in their painted annals, in
Furchas's Piigri?nage, are very recent ; fo that they can
fcarcely remember any more than feven princes before
Motezitma II. who was reigning when the Spaniards arrived
there, 1519, under Fernando Cortez; confequently the firllof
thefe princes, fuppofing each had a reign of thirty-three years
and four months, and adding to it the fixteen years of Mo-
tezuma, began to reign in the year 1270, when Kublai-
Khan, the conqueror of all China and ol Japan, was on the
throne, and in whofe time happened, I believe, the firft
abortive expedition to Japan, which I mentioned above,
and probably furniihed North- Ameica, with civilized in-
habitants. There is, if I am not miftaken, a great fimila-
rity between the figures of the Mexican idols, and thofe
which are ufual among the Tartars, who embrace the doc-
trines and religion of the Daldi-La?na, whofe religion Kii-
blc.i-Khan firft introduced among the Monguls, or Moguls.
The favage Indians of North-America, it leems, have an-
other origin, and are probably defcended from the Yi:kag~
hiri and Tchucktchi, inhabitants of the moft eafterly and
northerly part oi AJia, where, according to the accounts of
the Ruffians, there is but a fmall trajed to America. The
ferocity of thefe nations, fimilar to that of the Americans,
their way of pointing, their fondncfs of inebriating liquors,

(which

^lebec. 127

French on the fouth~fea expedition aiked
the people there, concerning the time v/hen,
and by whom thofe pillars were erected ?
what their traditions and fentiments con-
cerning them were ? who had wrote the
charad:ers ? what was meant by them ?
what kind of letters tliey were ? in what
language they were written ? and other
circumftances j yet they could never get
the leall explication, the Indians being as
ignorant of all thofe things, as the French
themfelves. All they could fay was, that
thefe {tones had been in thofe places, fince
times immemorial. The places where the
pillars flood were near nine hundred French
miles weflward of Montreal. The chief
intention of this journey, n)iz. to come to
the fouth-fea, and to examine its diflance
from Canada, was never attained on this
occalion. For the people fent out for that
purpofe, were induced to take part in a
war between fome of the mofi: didant //z-

dian

(which the Tukaghiri prepare from poifop.ous and inebriat-
ing mufhrooms, bought of the RuJJians) and many other
things, fhovv them plainly to be of the fame origin. The
EJliunaux feem to be the fame nation with the inhabitants
of Greenland, the Sa?i2oycdes, and Lapponians. South- Ame-
rica, and efpecially Peru, is probably peopled from the
great unknown fouth continent, wliich is very near ^/;;mr/7,
civilized, and full of inhabitants of various colours : who
therefore might very eafily be caft on the American conti-
nent, in boats, or proas. F,

I2S Avgujl 1749.

dta7i nations, in which fome of the French
were taken prifoners, and the reft obliged
to return. Among the laft and moft
wefterly Indians they were with, they
heard that the fouth-fea was but a few
days journey off; that they (the Indians)
often traded with the Spaiiiards on that
coaft, and fometimes likewife they went to
Hudfons Bay, to trade u^ith the Knglijh.
Some of thefe Indians had houfes, which
were made of earth. Many nations had
never feen any Frenchmen y they were com-
monly clad in ikins, but many were quite
naked.

All thofe who had made long journies
in Canada to the fouth, but chiefly weft-
ward, agreed that there were many great
plains deftitute of trees, where the land
was furrowed, as if it had been ploughed.
In what manner this happened, no one
knows ; for the corn-fields of a great vil-
lage, or town, of the Indians^ are fcarce
above four or fix of our acres in extent j
whereas thofe furrowed plains fometimes
continue for feveral days journey, except
now and then a fmall fmooth fpot, and
here and there fome rifing grounds.

I COULD not hear of any more veftiges
of antiquity in Canada, notwithftanding
my careful enquiries after them. In the,

COD'

continuation of my journey, for the year
1750*, I {hall find an opportunity of fpeak-
ing of two other remarkable curicfities.
tDur SwedlJJj Mr. George Wejimann^ A. M,
has clearly, and circumftantially fhewn,
that our Scajidmavians, chiefly the northern
ones, long before Columbu5\ time, have
undertaken voyages to North- America \ fee
his differtation on that fubjedl, which he
read at Abo in 1747, for obtaining his de-
gree.

Augujl the 8th, This morning I vifit-.
ed the largeft nunnery in ^ebec. Men
are prohibited from vifiting under very
heavy punifhments ; except in fome rooms,
divided by iron rails, where the men and
women, that do not belong to the convent,
ftand without, and the nuns within the
rails, and converfe with each other. But
to encreafe the many favours which the
French nation heaped upon me, as a Svjede^
the governor-general got the bilhop's leave
for me to enter the convent, and fee its
conftrudtion. The bifhop alone has the
power of granting this favour, but he does
it very fparingly. The royal phyfician,^
and a furgeon, are however at liberty io
go in as often as they think proper. Mr.

* This part has not yet been pijbliflied,

' You III. . I GauU

130 Augufi 1749.

Gaulthier, a man of great knowledge m
phyfic and botany, was at prefent the
royal phyfician here, and accompanied me
to the convent. We firfl faw the hofpital,
which I (hall prefently defcribe, and then
entered the convent, which forms a part
of the hofpita). It is a great building of
flone, three ftories high, divided in the
infide into long galleries, on both fides of
which are cells, halls, and rooms. The
cells of the nuns are in the higheft flory,
on both fides of the gallery; they are but
fmall i not painted in the infide, but hung
with paper picflures of faints, and of our
Saviour on the crofs. A bed with cur-
tains, and good bed-clothes, a little nar-
row defk, and a chair or two, is the whole
furniture of a cell. They have no fires
in winter, and the nuns are forced to ly
in the cold cells. On the gallery is a
flove, which is heated in winter, and as
.all the rooms are left open, fome warmth
can by this means come into them. In
the middle ftory are the rooms where they ,
pafs the day together. One of thefe is
the room, where they are at work 3 this is
large, finely painted and adorned, and has
an iron ftove. Here they were at their
needle-work, embroidering, gilding, and
making flowers of filk, which bear a great

fimi-

iluebed. 1 3 1

fimllarity to the natural ones. In a word,
they were all employed in fuch nice works,
as were fuitable to ladies of their rank in
life. In another hall they affemble to hold
their juntos. Another apartment contains
thofe who are indifpofed ; but fuch as are
more dangeroufly ill, have rooms to them-
felves. The novices, and new comers, are
taught and inftruded in another hall. An-
other is deftined for their refectory, or
dining-room, in which are tables on all
lides; on one fide of it is a fmall defk,
on which is laid a French book, concern-
ing the life of thofe faints who are men-
tioned in the New Teftament. When
they dine, all are filent ; one of the eldeft
gets into the delTc, and reads a part of
the book before mentioned ; and when
they are gone through it, they read feme
other religious book. During the meal,
they fit on that fide of the table, which
is turned towards the wall. Almoft in
every room is a gilt table, on which are
placed candles, together with the pidture
of our Saviour on the crofs, and of fome
faints : before thefs tables they fay their
prayers. On one fide is the church, and
near it a large gallery, divided from the
church by rails, fo that the nuns could
ooly look into it. In this gallery they re-
I 2 main

132 ^ttgufl ly 4g.

main during divine fervice, and the clergy-
man is in the church, where the nuns
reach him his facerdotal clothes through a
hole^ for they are not allowed to go into
the veftry, and to be in the fame room
with the prieft. There are ftill feveral
other rooms and halls here, the ufe of
which I do not remember. The loweft
ftory contains a kitchen, bake-houfe, feve-
ral butteries, &c. In the garrets they keep
their corn, and dry their linen. In the
middle ftory is a balcony on the outfide,
almoft round the whole building, where
the nuns are allowed to take air. The
profpedl from the convent is very fine on
every fide ; the river, the fields, and the
meadows out of town, appear there to great
advantage. On one fide of the convent is
a large garden, in which the nuns are at
liberty to walk about ; it belongs to the
convent, and is furrounded with a high
wall. There is a quantity of all forts of
fruits in it. This convent, they fay, con-,
tains about fifty nuns, moft of them ad-
vanced in years, fcarce any being under
forty years of age. At this time there
were two young ladies among them, who
were inftructed in thofe things, which be-
long to the knowledge of nuns. They are
not allowed to become nuns immediately

after

after their entrance, but muft pafs through
a noviciate of two or three years, in order
to try, whether they will be conftant. For
during that time it is in their power to
leave the convent, if a monadic Hfe does
not fuit their incHnations. But as foon as
they are received among the nuns, and
have made their vows, they are obliged to
continue their whole life in it : if they ap-
pear willing to change their mode of life,
they are locked up in a room, from whence
they can never get out. The nuns of this
convent never go further from it, than to
the hofpital, which lies near it, and even
makes a part cf it. They go there to at-
tend the fick, and to take care of them.
I was told by feveral people here, fome of
which were ladies, that none of the nuns
went into a convent, till llie had attained
to an age in which fl:ie had fmall hopes of
€ver getting a hufl:)and. The nuns of all
the three convents in ^lebec looked very
old, by which it feems, that there is fome
foundation for this account. All agree
here, that the men are much lefs nume-
rous in Canada, than the women ; for the
men die on their voyages ; many go to the
Wejl-Indies, and either fettle, or die, there;
many are killed in battles, ^c. Hence
I 3 there

J 34 -^^^gnft 1749-

there feems to be a neceffity of feme
women going into convents.

The hofpital, as I have before mention-
ed, makes a part of the convent. It con-
fifts of two large halls, and fome rooms
near the apothecary's fhop. In the halls
are two rows of beds on each fide, within
each other. The beds next to the v/all are
furnilhed with curtains, the outward ones
are without them. In each bed are fine
bed-clothes, with clean double iheets. As
foon as a fick perfon has left his bed, it is
made again, in order to keep the hofpital
in cleanlinefs, and order. The beds are
two or three yards diftant, and near each
is a' fmall table. There are good iron
floves, and fine windows in this hall. The
nuns attend the fick people, and bring them
meat, and other necefiTaries. Befides them
there are fome men who attend, and a
furgeon. The royal phyfician is likewife
obliged to come hither, once or twice every
day, look after every thing, and give pre-
fcriptions. They commonly receive fick
foldiers into this hofpital, who are very
numerous in July and Augiijly when the
king's fhips arrive, and in time of war.
But at other times, when no great number
of foldiers are fick, other poor people can

t^ke

take their places, as far as the number of
empty beds will reach. The king finds
every thing here that is requifite for the
lick perfons, viz. provifions, medicines,
fewel, &c. Thofe who are very ill, are
put into feparate rooms, in order that the
noife in the great hall may not be trouble-
fome to them.

The civility of the inhabitants here is
more refined than that of the Dutch and
EngliJ]:>, in the fettlements belonging to
Great Britain ; but the latter, on the other
hand, do not idle their time away in dref-
fing, as the French do here. The ladies,
efpecially, drefs and powder their hair every
day, and put their locks in papers every
night i which idle cuftom was not intro-
duced in the Englijh fettlements. The
gentlemen wear generally their own hair ,
but fome have wigs. People of rank are
ufed to wear laced cloaths, and all the
crown-ofiicers wear fwords. All the gen-
tlemen, even thofe of rank, the governor-
general excepted, when they go into town
on a day that looks likely for rain, carry
their cloaks on their left arm. Acquaint-
ances of either fex, who have not feen each
other for fome time, on meeting again fa-
lute with mutual kilTes.

The plants which I have colle(5ted in
I 4 Ca-

136 ' Jugufi 1749.

Canada, and which I have partly defcrlbed,
I pafs over as I have done before, that I
may not tire the patience of my readers by
a tedious enumeration. If I fliould crowd
my journal with my daily botanical obfer-
vations, and defcriptions of animals, birds,
infedls, ores, and the like curiofities, it
would be fwelled to fix or ten times its
prefent fizc *. I therefore fpare all thefe
things, confifting chiefly of dry defcrip-
tions of natural curiofities, for a Flora Ca-
nadenfiSi and other fuch like things. The
fame I muft fay in regard to the obferva-
tions I have made in phyfic. I have care-
fully colleded all I could on this journey,
concerning the medicinal ufe of the Ame-
rican plants, and the firpoles, fome of
which they reckon infallible \, in more
than one place. But phyfic not being my
principal ftudy (though from my yo'Jth I
always was fond of it) I may probably
have omitted remarkable circumflances in
my accounts of medicines and fimples,
though one cannot be too accurate in lach
cafes. The phyficians w^ould therefore leap
little er no benefit from fuch remarks, or

at

* What bookfeller io Sijjcden couid undertake to print
fuch a work at his own expence, without lofmg ccnfjder-
ably by it ?

-j- Remedes Souveraitis,

at lead they would not find them as they
ought to be. This will excufe me for
avoiding, as much as pollible, to mention
fuch things as belong to phyfic, and are
above my knowledge. Concerning the
Canada plants, I can here add, that the
further you go northward, the more you
find the plants are the fame with the Swe^
di/hones: thus, on the north fide of ^z^^'-
Sec, a fourth part of the plants, if not
more, are the fame with the fpontaneous
plants in Sweden. A few plants and trees,
which have a particular quality, or are ap-
plied to fome particular ufe, fliall, how-
ever, be mentioned in a few words, in the
fequel.

HE Rei?2-deer Mofs f Lichen ranglfc-
is) grows plentiful in the woods round
9^iebec. M. Gaulihier, and feveral other
gentlemen, told me, that the French, on
their long journies through the woods, on
account of their fur trade with the Indians^
fometimes boil this mofs, and drink the
decu(!^ion, for want of better food, when
their proviiions are at an end ; and they
fay it is very nutritive. Several French-
men, who have been in the Terra Lahra-
•dor, wuere there are many rein-deer (which
the French and Indians here call Cariboux)
relatedj that all the land there is in moil

places

rijius

138 Auguft 1749.

places covered with this rein-deer mols. To
that the ground looks as white as fnow.

Auguft the loth. This day I dined with
the Jefuits. A few days before, I paid
my vifit to them -, and the next day their
prefident, and another father Jefuit, called
on me, to invite me to dine with them to-
day. I attended divine fervice in their
church, which is a part of their houfe. It
is very fine within, though it has no feats;
for every one is obliged to kneel down du-
ring the fervice. Above the church is a
fmali fleeple, with a clock. The building
the Jefuits live in is magnificently built,
and looks exceeding fine, both without and
within ; which gives it a fimilarity to a
fine palace. It confifts of llione, is three
fiiories high, exclufive of the garret, co-
vered with dates, and built in a fquare form,
like the new palace at Stockholmy includ-
ing a large court. Its fize is fuch, that
three hundred families would find room
enough in it ; though at prefent there were
not above twenty Jefuits in it. Some-
times there is a much greater number of
them, efpecially when thofe return, who
have been fent as miffionaries into the
country. There is a long walk along all
the fides of the fquare, in every ftory, on
both fides of which are either cells, halls,

or

^iebec. 139

or other apartments for the friars; and
Hkewife their library, apothecary-fhop, &c.
Every thing is very well regulated, and the
Jefuits are very well accommodated here.
On the outfide is their college, which is
on two fides farrounded with great orchards
and kitchen-gardens, in which they have
fine walks. A part of the trees here, are
the remains of the forefl: which flood here
when the French began to build this town.
They have befides planted a number of
fruit-trees ; and the garden is ftocked with
all forts of plants for the ufe of the kitchen.
The Jefuits dine together in a great hall.
There are tables placed all round it along
the walls, and feats between the tables and
the walls, but not on the other fide. Near
one wall is a pulpit, upon which one of
the fathers gets during the meal, in order
to read fome religious book ; but this day
it was omitted, all the time being em-
ployed in converfation. They dine very
well, and their difhes are as numerous as
at the greatefl feafts. In this fpacious
building you do not fee a iingle woman;
all are fathers, or brothers j the latter of
which are young men, brought up to be
Jefuits. They prepare the meal, and
bring it upon table ; for the common fer-
vants are not admitted.

Be-

Besides the bifhop, there are three kinds
of clergymen in Canada ; viz. Jefuits,
pricfts, and recollets. The Jefuits are,
without doubt, the moft confiderable ;
therefore they commonly fay here, by way
of proverb, that a hatchet is fufficient to
iketch out a recollet ; a priefl: cannot be
made without a chiflel j but a Jefuit abfo-
lutely requires the pencil * j to fhew how
much one furpafles the others. The Jc^
fuits are commonly very learned, ftudious,
and are very civil and agreeable in com-
pany. In their whole deportment there is
fomething plealing j it is no wonder there-
fore that they captivate the minds of peo-
ple. They feldom fpeak of religious mat-
ters ', and if it happens, they generally
avoid disputes. They are very ready to do
any one a fervice ; and when they fee that
their affiftance is wanted, they hardly give
one time to fpeak of it, falling to work
immediately, to bring about what is re-
quired of them. Their converfation is
very entertaining and learned, fo that one
cannot be tired of their company. Among
all the Jefuits I have converfed with in
Cajiada, I have not found one who was not
poireffed of thefe qualities in a very emi-
nent

* Pour faire un recclei il faut une bachette, pour un ptetre
un cijcauy via:s pour v.n Jejuite tlfaut tm pinceau.

Quebec,

141

nent degree. They have large polTeffions
in this country, which the French king
gave them. At Montreal ihty have like-
wife a fine church, and a little neat houfe,
with a fmall but pretty garden within.
They do not care to become preachers to a
congregation in the town and country; but
leave thefe places, together Vv'ith the emo-
luments ariting from them, to the priefts.
All their bufinefs here is to convert the hea-
thens; and with that view their miffiona-
ries are fcattered over every part of this
country. Near every town and village,
peopled by converted Indians^ are one or
two Jcfuits, who take great care that they
may not return to paganifm, but live as
Chriftians ought to do. Thu^ there are
Jefuits with the i-i averted Indians in Ta-
doujfac, Lcrette, Becancourt, St. Frangoisy
Satit St. LoiiiSf and all over Canada. There
are likewife Jefuit mifiionaries with thofe
who are not converted ; fo that there is
commonly a Jefuit in every village belong-
ing to the Indians, whom he endeavours
on all occafions to convert. In winter he
goes on their great hunts, where he is fre-
quently obliged to fuff-r all imaginable in-
conveniencies ; fuch as walking in the fnow
all day; lying in the open air all winter;
being out both in good and bad weather,

the

142 Jugttji 1749.

the Indians not regarding any kind o^ wea-
ther ; lying in \\\q Indian \\\i\.%y which of-
ten Iwarm with fleas and other vermin,
&c. The Jefuits undergo all thefe hard-
ships for the fake of converting the Indians^
and hkewife for political reafons. The
Jefuits are of great ufe to their king ; for
they are frequently able to perfuade the
Indians to break their treaty with the Eng-
lijhy to make war upon them, to bring
their furs to the French^ and not to permit
the Englijl: to come amongfh them. But
there is fome danger attending thefe at-
tempts ; for when the Indians are in li-
quor, they fometimes kill the miffionaries
who live with them ; calling them fpies,
or excufing tbemfelves by faying that the
brandy had killed them. Thefe are ac-
cordingly the chief occupations of the Je-
fuits here. They do not go to viiit the
fick in the town, they do not hear the con-
feffions, and attend at no funerals. I have
never fecn them go in proceffions in re-
membrance of the Virgin Mary, and other
faints. They feldom go into a houfe in
order to get meat -, and though they be in-
vited, they do not like to ftay, except they
be on a journey. Every body fees, that
they are, as it were, feledted from the
other people, on account of their fuperior

^lehec, 143

genius and qualities. They are here reck-
oned a mofl cunning fet of people, who
generally fucceed in their undertakings,
and furpafs all others in acutenefs of un-
derftanding. I have therefore feveral times
obferved that they have enemies in Ca-
nada. They never receive any others into
their fociety, but pcrfons of very promifing
parts J fo that there are.no blockheads
among them. On the other hand, the
priefts receive the heft kind of people a-
mong their order they can meet with ^ and
in the choice of monks, they are yet lefs
careful. The Jefuits who live here, are
all come from France ; and many of them
return thither again, after a ftay of a few
years here. Some (five or fix of which
are yet alive) who were born in Canada,
went over to France^ and were received
among the Jefuits there ; but none of them
ever came back to Canada. I know not
what political reafon hindered them. Dur-
ing my ftay in ^lebec, one of the priefts,
with the biihop's leave, gave up his prieft-
hood, and became a Jefuit. The other
priefi:s were very ill pleafed with this, be-
caufe it feemed as if he looked upon their
condition as too mean for himfelf, Thofe
congregations in the country that pay rents
to the Jefuits, have, however, divine fer-

vice

144 ^%«/^' ^749'

vice performed by priefls, who are ap-
pointed by the biihop; and the land-rent
only belongs to the Jefuits. Neither the
priefls nor the Jefuits carry on any trade
with furs and fkins, leaving that entirely
to the merchants.

This afternoon I vifited the building
called the Seminary, where all the priefts
live in common. They have a great houfe,
built of ftone, with walks in it, and rooms
on each fide. It is feveral ftories high,
and clofe to it is a fine garden, full of all
forts of fruit-trees and pot-herbs, and di-
vided by walks. The profpect from hence
is the fineft in Quebec, The priefts of the
feminary are not much inferior to the Je^
fuits in civility; and therefore I fpent my
time very agreeably in their company.

The priefts are the fecond and moft nu-»
merous clafs of the clergy in this country }
for moft of the churches, both in towns
and villages (the India?t converts excepted)
are ferved by priefts. A few of them are?
Jikewife miffionaries. In Canada are two
fcminaries \ one in ^lebecy the other in
Montreal. The priefts of the feminary in
Montreal 2i\Q of the order of St, Sulpitius,
and fupply only the congregation on the,
ifle of Montreal, and the town of the fame
name. At all the other cburghes in Ca^

nada^

ndda, the priefts belonging to the ^eheC
feminary officiate. The former, or thofe
of the order of St. Sulpitius, all come from
France ; and I was aflured that they never
fufFer a native erf Canada to come among
them. In the feminary at ^ebec, the na-
tives of Canada make the greater part. In
order to fit the children of this country for
orders, there are fchools at ^ebec and St;
'Joachim ; u'here the youths are taught La-
tin, and inftrucflcd in the knowledge of
thofe things and fciences, which have a
more immediate connexion with the bufi-
nefs they are intended for. However, they
are not very nice in their choice; and peo-
ple of a middling capacity are often re-
ceived among them. They do not feem
to have made great progrefs in Latin ; for
notwithftanding the fervice is reid in that
language^ and they read their Latin Bre-
viary, and other books, every day, yet mod
of them found it very difficult to fpeak ir.
All the priefts in the ^jxebec feminary are
confecrated by the biffiop. Both the fe-
minaries have got great revenues from the
king J that in Quebec has above thirty
thoufand livres. All the country on the
vvc[l: fide of the river St. Laiv?'encey from
the town of Quebec to bay St. Paul, be-
longs to this fe-minary, befides their other
Vol. hi. K pof-

146 ^i^g'i^fi 1749'

polTefiions in the country. They leafe the
land to the fettlers for a certain rent,
which, if it be annually paid according to
their agreement, the children or heirs of
the fettlers may remain in an undifturbed
pofleffion of the lands. A piece of land,
three arpens * broad, and thirty, forty, or
fifty arpens long, pays annually an ecu -f-,
and a couple of chickens, or fome other
additional trifle. In fuch places as have
convenient water-falls, they have built wa-
ter-mills, or faw-mills, from which they
annually get confiderable fums. The fe-
minary of Montreal pofTefles the whole
ground on which that town ftands, toge-
ther with the whole ifle of Montreal, I have
been affured, that the ground-rent of the
town and ifle is computed at feventy thou-
fand livres ; befides what they get for fay-
ing maiTes, baptizing, holding confeffions,
attending at marriages and funerals, &c,-
All the revenues of ground-rent belong to
the feminaries alone, and the priefts in the
country have no fhare in them. But as the
feminary in Montreal^ confifting only of
fixteen priefts, has greater revenues than
it can expend, a large fum of money is an-
nually fent over to France, to the chief

fe-

» A French ac^(;_.

f K French c,Q\n^ value about a crown £«^///^,

feminary there. The land-rents helonging
to the ^ebec feminary are employed for
the ufe of the priefts in it, and for the
maintenance of a number of young peo-
ple, who are brought up to take orders.
The priefts who live in the country pa-
rifhes, get the tythe from their congrega-
tion, together with the perquifites on vi-
fiting the fick, &c. In fmall congrega-
tfons, the king gives the priefts an addi-
tional fum. When a prieft in the country
grows old, and has done good fervices, he
is fometimes allowed to come into the fe-
minary in town. The feminaries are al-
lowed to place the priefts on their own
eftates ; but the other places are in the gift
of the biiliop.

The recclets are the third clafs of cler-
gymen in Canada. They have a fine large
dwelling houfe here, and a fine church,
where they officiate. Near it is a large
and fine garden, which they cultivate with
great application. In Montr eah and 1^7'ols
Rivieres, they are lodged almorh in the
fame manner as here. They do not en-
deavour to choofe cunning feilovvs amongd
them, but take all they can get. They
do not torment their brains with much
learning ; and I have been affured, that af-
ter they have put on their n?.onaflic habit,
K 2 they

148 Augufi 1749.

they do not ftudy to increafe their know-*
ledge, but forget even what little they
knew before. At night they generally ly
on mats, or fofHe other hard matrafles ;
howevery I have fometimes feen good beds
in the cells of fome of them. They
have no pofTeffions here, having made vows
©f poverty, and live chiefly on the alms
which people give them. To this pur-
pofe, the young monks, or brothers, go
into the houfes with a bag, and beg what
they want. They have no congregations
in the country, but fometimes they go
among the Indians as miflionaries. In each
fort, which contains forty men, the king
keeps one of thefe monks, inftead of a
prieft, who officiates there. The king
gives him lodging, provilions, fervants, and
all he wants J beiides two hundred livres a
year. Half of it he fends to the commu-
nity he belongs to ; the other half he re-
ferves for his own ufe. On board the
king's fhips are generally no other priefts
than ihefe friars, who are therefore looked
upon as people belonging to the king.
When one of the chief priefts * in the
country dies, and his place cannot imme-
diately be filled up, they fend one of thefe
friars there, to officiate whilfl: the place is

* Fajiiur,

va-

^ehee, 149

vacant. Part of thefe monks come over
from Frauce, and part are natives of Canada,
There are no other monks in Canada be-
fides thefe, except now and then one of the
order of St. Aujiin or fome other, v^^ho
comes with one of the king's (hips, but
goes off with it again.

Auguji the i ith. This morning I took
a walk out of town, with the royal phy-
/ician M. Gaiilthier, in order to col]e(5l
plants, and to fee a nunn^ery at fome diftance
from ^ebec. This monaftery which is
built very magnificently of flone, lies in a
pleafant fpot, furrounded with corn-fields,
meadows, and woods, from whence ^ebec
and the river St. Lawrence may be feen;
a hofpital for poor old people, cripples, &:c.
makes part of the monaftery, and is divided
into two halls, one for men, ths other for
women. The nuns attend both fexes,
with this difference however, that they only
prepare the meal for the men and bring it
in to them, give them phyiick, and take the
cloth away when they have eaten, leaving
the reft for male fervants. But in the hall
where the women are, they ^o all the
work that is to be done. The regulation
in the hofpital was the fame as in that at
^lebec. To fhew me a particular favour,
Jbe bifliop, at the defire of the Marquis

K3 h

1^0 Augujl 1749,

laGaltJfonniere^ governor-general o^ Canada^
granted me leave to fee this nunnery likewife,
where no man is allowed to enter, without
his leave, which is an honour he feldom
confers on any body. The abbefs led me
and M. Gauhhier through all the apart-
ments, accompanied by a great number of
nuns. Moil of the nuns here are of noble
families and one was the daughter of a
governor. Many of them are old, but there
are likevvife feme very young ones among
them, who looked very well. They feemed
all to be more polite than thofe in the
other nunnery. Their rooms are the fame
as in the laft place, except fome additional
furniture in their cells; the beds are hung
with blue curtains; there are a couple of
fmall bureaux, a table between them and
fome pidtures on the walls. There are
however no iloves in any cell. But thofe
halls and rooms, in which they are affem-
bled together, and in which the fick ones
]y, are fupplied with an iron flove. The
number of nuns is indeterminate here, and I
faw a great number of them. Here are
like wife feme probationers preparing for
their reception among the nuns, A num-
ber of little girls are fent hither by their
parents, to be inftruded by the nuns in the
principles of the chrillian religion, and in

al|

^ebec, I ^ t

all forts of ladles work. The convent nt a
diftance looks like a palace, and, as I am told,
was founded by a bi(hop, who they fay is
buried in a part of the church.

We botanized till dinner-time in the
neighbouring meadows, and then returned
to the convent to dine with a venerable old
father recolet, who officiated here as a
prieft. The difhes were all prepared by
nuns, and asnumerous and various as on the
tables of great men. There were likewife
feveral forts of wine, and many preferves.
The revenues of this monaftery c.re faid to
be confiderable. At the top of the build-
ing is a fmall lleeple with a bell. Con-
iidering the large trads of land which the
king has given in Canada to convents,
yefiiits, priefts, and feveral families cf rank,
it feems he has very little left for himfelf.

Our common rafp-berries, are fo plenti-
ful hereon the hilis, near corn-fields, rivers
and brooks, that the branches look quite
red on account of the number of berries on
them. They are ripe about this time, and
eaten as a defert alter dinner, both frefh
and preferved.

The Mountain Afi, or Sorb-tree * is
pretty common in the woods hereabouts.

* Sorhus aucuparia.

K 4. They

They reckon the north-eall: wind the
moft piercing of all, here. Many of the
beft people |iere, aiTured me, that this wind
when it is very violent in winter, pierces
through walls of a moderate thicknefs, fo
that the whole wall on the infide of the
houfe is covered with fnow, or ^ ihkk
hoar froft; and that a candle placed near
a thinner wall is almoft blown out by the
w^ind which continually comes through.
This wind damages the houfes which are
built of ftone, and forces the owners to re-
pair them very frequently on the north-
eaft lide. The north and north-eafl: winds
are likewife reckoned very cold here. In
fummer the north wind is generally attended
Vv'ith rain.

The difference of climate between ^e-
bee and Montreal is on ail hands allowed to
be very great. The uind and weather of
Montreal are often entirely different from
what they are at ^ebec. The winter there
is not near fo cold as in thelaft place. Several
forts of iiT.Q pears will grow near Montreal i
but are far from fucceeding at ^lehec^ where
the froPc frequently kills them, ^ebec has
generally more rainy weather, fpring begins
later, and winter fooner than at Montreal^
where all forts of fruits ripen a week or two
earlier ihan at Quebec.

^ehec, 153

Jugiift: the 1 2th. This afternoon I and
rny fervant went out of town, to ftay in
the country for a couple of days that I might
have more leifure to examine the plants
which grow in the woods here, and the
ftate of the country. In order to proceed
the better, the governor-general had fent
for an Indian from Lorette to fliew us the
way, and teach us what ufe they make
of the fpontaneous plants hereabouts. This
Indian was an Englifiman by birth, taken
by the Indians thirty yciirs ago, when
he was a boy, and adopted by them,
according to their cuftom, inftead of a
relation of theirs killed by the enemy.
Since that time he conftantly flayed with
them, became a Roman Catholic and married
an Indian woman; he dreffes like an Indian,
(peaks Englifo and French, and many of
the Indian languages. In the wars between
the French -And Eng/iJ/j, in this country, the
French Indianfhzvc made many prifoners of
both fexes in the Englifi plantations, adopt-
ed them afterwards, and they married with
people of the Indian nations. From hence
the Indian blood in Canada is very much
mixed with European blood, and a great
part of the Indians now living, owe their
origin to Europe. It is likewife remarkable,
fhat a great part of the peopji^ they had

taken

154 Auguflij^().

taken during the war and incorporated with
their nations, efpecially the young people,
did not choofe to return to their native
country, though their parents and neareft
relations came to them and endeavoured to
perfuade them to it, and though it was in
their power to do it. The licentious life
led by the Indians, pleafed them better than
that of their European relations^ they drefled
like the Indians^ and regulated all their
affairs in their way. It is therefore difficult
to dilHnguilh them, except by their colour,
which is fomewhat whiter than that of the
Indians. There are likewife examples of
fome Frenchmen going araongft the Indians
and following their way of life. There is
on the contrary fcarce one inftance of an
Indiana adopting the European cufloms 5
but thofe who were taken prifoners in the
war, have always endeavoured to come to
their own people again, even after feveral
years of captivity, and though they enjoyed
ail the privileges that were ever pofTefled by
the Europeans in America.

The lands, which we pafled over, were
every where laid out into corn-fields, mea-
dows, or paftures. Almoft all round us
the profpect prefented to our view farms
and farm-houles, and excellent fields and
rneadovvs. Near the town the land is

pretty

Between §luebec and Lor die. 155

pretty flat, and interfeded now and then
by a clear rivulet. The roads are very
good, broad, and lined with ditches oa
Bach fide, in low grounds. Further from
the town, the land rifes higher and higher,
and confifts as it were of terraces, one
above another. This rifing ground is,
however, pretty fmooth, chiefly without
ftones, and covered with rich mould. Un-
(ier that is the black lime-flate, which is
fo common hereabouts, and is divided into
fmall fliivers, and corroded by the air.
Some of the fl:rata were horizontal, others
perpendicular ; I have likewife found fuch
perpendicular flrata of lime-fl:ates in other
places, in the neighbourhood of ^ebec.
All the hills are cultivated ; and foaie are
adorned with fine churches, houfes, and
corn-fields. The meadows are commonly
in the vallies, though fome were likewiic
on eminencies. Soon after we had a fine
profpedt from one of thef^ hills. Quebec
appeared very plain to the eaflvvard, and
the river St. Lawre?ice could likewife be
feen ; further diilant, on the fouth-eafc ^\(\q
of that river, appears a long chain of high
mountains, running generally parallel to it,
though many miles diflant from it. To
the v/efl: again, at iome diftance from the
rifing lands where we were, the hills chang-
ed
2

J 56 ^ligtifl 1749'

ed into a long chain of very high moun^
tains, lying very clofe to each other, and
running parallel likewife to the river, tnat
is nearly from fouth to north. Thefe high
mountains confift of a grey rock-flone,
compofed of feveral kinds of flone, which
I {hall mention in the fequel. Thefe
mountains feem to prove, that the lime-
llates are of as antient a date as the grey
rock-ftone, and not formed in later times j
for the amazing large grey rocks ly on the
top of the mountains, which confift of black
Jime-flates.

The high meadows in Canada are ex-
celbnt, and by far preferable to the mea-
dows round Fhiladelphia^ and in the other
Englifi colonies. The further I advanced
northward here, the finer were the mea-
dows, and the turf upon them was better
and clofer. Alrnoft all the grafs here is of
two kinds, viz. a fpecies of the narrow
leaved meadow grafs * ; for its fpikes -f- con-
tain either three or four flowers; which
are fo exceedingly fmall, that the plant
might eafily be taken for a bent grafs ^S^',
and its feeds have feveral fmall downy hairs
at the bottom. The oiher plant, which

grows

* Poa angujfifclia. Linn.

f Spicule trivel qaadri-flcrse mininiae ; femina bafi pq-

befcentia.

1 Aorofih, Linn.

Between ^lehec and horette. 157

grow: in the meadows, is the ^white clo"
H)er *. Thefe two plants form the hay
in the meadows ; they (land clofe and thick
together, and the meadow grafs {^poa) is
pretty tall, but has very thin ftalks. At
the root of the meadow grafs, the ground
was quite covered with clover, fo that one
cannot wifli for finer meadows, than are
found here. Almoft all the meadows have
been formerly corn-fields, as appears from
the furrows on the ground, which flill re-
mained. They can be mown but once
every fummer, as fpring commences very
late.

They were now bufied with making
hay, and getting it in, and I was told, they
had begun about a week ago. They have
hay-ftacks near moft of their meadows, and
on the wet ones, they make ufe of conic
hay-ftacks. Their meadows are con^non-*
ly without enclofures, the cattle being in
the paftures on the other fide of the woods,
and having cowherds to take care oi them
where they are necefiary.

The corn-fields are pretty large. I faw
no drains any where, though they feemed
to be wanting in fome places. They are
divided into ndges, of the breadth of two

* I'rifcUum repens, Linn. Trifolium praten/e allum. C. B.

©r

15S Auguft 1749.

or three yards broad, between the furroW?*
The perpendicular height of the middle of*
the ridge, from the level to the ground, is
near one foot. All their corn is fummer-
corn j for as the cold in winter deftroys
the corn which lies in the ground, they
never fow in autumn. I found white
wheat moil commonly in the fields. They
have likewife large fields with peafe, oats,
in fome places fummer-rye, and now and
then barley. Near almoft every farm I
met with cabbages, pumpions, and melons.
The fields are not always fown, but ly faU
low every two years. The fallow-fields
are not ploughed in fummcr, fo the weeds
grow without reftraint in them, and the
cattle are allowed to go on them all fum-*
mef *.

The houfes in the country are buiU
promifcuoufly of fione, or wood. To
thofe of ftone they do not employ bricks,
as there is not yet any confiderable quan-
tity of bricks made here. They there-
fore take what fiones they can find in the
neighbourhood, efpecially the black lime-
ilates. Thefe are quite compadt when
4 broke.

en-

* Here follows, in the original, an account of the
clofures made ufe of near ^ebec, which is intended only
for ihe Svjedis, but not for a nation that has made'fuch
progrefs in sgiicuhure and hufoandry, as the EngHJh. F»

"Between ^ehec and Lor ette. 159

broke, but (hiver when expofed to the air 5
however, this is of little confequence, as
the ftones ftick fad in the wall, and do
not fall afander. For want of it, they
fometimes make their buildings of lime-
ftone, or fand-flone, and fometimes of grey
rock-ftone. The walls of fuch houfes are
commonly two foot thick, and feldom
thinner. The people here can have lime
every where in this neighbourhood. The
greater part of the houfes in the country, are
built of wood, and fometimes plaiftered
over on the outfide. The chinks in the
walls are filled with clay, inftead of mofs.
The houfes are fe^dom above one ftory
high. In every room is either a chimney
or flove, or both together. The (loves
have the form of an oblong fquare ; I'ome
are entirely of iron, about two feet and a
half long, one foot and a half, or two
feet, high, and near a foot and a half
broad ; thefe iron ftoves are all caft at
the iron-works at l^rois Rivieres. Some
are made of bricks, or flones, not much
larger than the iron (loves, but covered at
top with an iron plate. The finoke from
the floves is conveyed up the chimney, by
an iron pipe. In fummer the floves are
removed.

This^

i6o Mgui 1749;

This evening we arrived at horHUi
v.rhere we lodged with the Jefults.

Auguji xhQ 13th. In the morning we
continued our journey through the woods
to the high mountains, in order to fee
what fcarce plants and curiofities we could
get there. The ground was flat at iiril:,
and covered with a thick wood all round,
except in marfhy places. Near half the
plants, which are to be met with here,
grow in the woods and morafles of Sweden.

We faw wild Cherry-trees here, of two
kinds, which are probably mere varieties^
though they differ in feveral refpeds. Both
are pretty common mCanada, and both have
red berries. One kind, which is called
Cenjier by the French, taftes like our Al^
fine cherries, and their acid contrads the
mouth, and cheeks. The berries of the
other fbrt have an agreeable fournefs, and
a pleafant tafte *.

The three-leaved Hellebore -f- grows in
great plenty in the woods, and in many
places it covers the ground by itfelf. How-
ever, it commonly choofes moffy places^

that

* The kind called Cenjur by the French, I defcribed
thus in my journal : Cera/us foliis o'uatii/erratisy ferraturit
'frofundit fere fuhulat'ts, fru5iu racemo/o. The other thus-.
Cera/us foliis lanceolatis, crenato-ferratii, nciitis^ fiu^uferg
felitcvio.

f Helleborus trifolius.

Lorette, 1 6 1

that are not very wet ; and the wood-for-
rel*, with \S\^ Mountain 'Enchanter s Night"
Jhade\, are its companions. Its feeds were
not yet ripe, and moft of the ftalks had
no feeds at all. This plant is called T^if-
favoyanne jaune by the French, all over Ca-
nada. Its leaves and ftalks are ufed by
the Indians, for giving a fine yellow colour
to feveral kinds of work, which they make
of prepared fkins. The French, who have
learnt this from them, dye wool and other
things yellow with this plant.

We climbed with a great deal of diffi-
culty to the top of one of the higheft
mountains here, and I was vexed to find
nothing at its fummir, but what I had
feen in other parts of Canada before. We
had not even the pleafure of a profpedl:,
becaufe the trees, with which the moun-
tain is covered, obftruded ir. The trees
that grow here are a kind of hornbeam,
or Carpinus OJirya, Linn, the American
elm, the red maple, the fugar-maple, that
kind of maple which cures fcorched
wounds (which I have not yet defcribed),
the beech, the common birch-tree, the
fugar-birch J, the forb-tree, the Canada

* Oxalis Jcefflla, Linn.
■^ Circaa alpina, Linn.
% Betula nigra, Linn.

Vol. Ill, h pifte,

1 62 ^ Auguft 1749.

pine, called Perujfe, the mealy-tree with
dentated leaves *, the afli, the cherry-tree,
[Ceri/ier) jufl before defcribed, and the
berry-bearing yew.

The Gnats in tbis wood were more
numerous than we could have wifhed.
Their bite caufed a bliftering of the fkin 5
and the Jefuits at Lorette fliid, the beft
prefervative againft their attacks is to rub
the face, and naked parts of the body,
with greafe. Cold water they reckon
the beft remedy againft the bite, when
the wounded places are wallied with it,
immediately after.

At night we returned to Lorette, hav-
ing accurately examined the plants of note
we met with to-day.

Augiiji iht 14th. Lorette is a village,
three French miles to the weftward oi ^le-
bec. Inhabited chiefly by Indians of the
Huroji nation, converted to the Roman
catholic religion. The village lies near a
little river, which falls over a rock there,
with a great noife, and turns a faw-mill,
and a flour-mill. When the Jefuit, who
is now with them, arrived among them,
they lived in their ufual huts, which are
made like thofe of the Laplanders, They

* Fibunjum dentatum, Linn.

have

' Lorette, 163

have fince laid afide this cuftom, and built
all their houfes after the French faQiion.
In each houfe are two rooms, viz. their
bed-room, and the kitchen on the outfide
before it. In the room is a fmall oven of
ftone, covered at top with an iron plate.
Their beds are near the wall, and they put
no other clothes on them, than thofe which
they are dreffed in. Their other furniture
and utenfils, look equally wretched. Here
is a fine little church, with a fleeple and
bell. The freeple is raifed pretty high,
and covered with white tin plates. They
pretend, that there is fome fimilarity be-
tween this church in its figure and difpo-
fition, and the Santa Cafa, at Loretto in.
Italy^ from whence this village has got its
name. Clofe to the church is a houfe
built of ftone, for the clergymen, who
are two Jefuits, that conflantly live here.
The divine fervice is as regularly attended
here, as in any otherRoman catholic church j
and I was pleafed with feeing the alacrity
of the Indians, efpecially of the Vv^omen,
and hearing their good voices, when they
fing all forts of hymns in their own lan-
guage. The Indians drefs chiefly like the
other adjacent Indian nations ; the men,
however, like to wear waiftcoats, or jackets,
like the French. The women keep exadly
L 2 to

I

164 ^ug^ift 1749'

to the hidian drefs. It is certain, that
thefe Indians and their anceflors, long fince,
on being converted to the Chriflian reli-
gion, have made a vow to God, never to
drink ilrong liquors. This vow they have
kept pretty inviolable hitherto, fo that one
feldom fees one of them drunk, though
brandy and other ftrong liquors are goods,
which other Indians would fooner be killed
for, than part with them,

These Indians have made the French
their patterns in feveral things, befides the
houfes. They all plant maize ; and fome
have fmall fields of wheat, and rye. Many
of them keep cows. They plant our com-
mon fun-flower* in their maize-fields, and
mix the feeds of it into ihtiv fagamitCy or
maize-foup. The maize, which they plant
here, is of the fmall fort, which ripens
fooner than the other : its grains are
fmaller, but give more and better flour
in proportion. It commonly ripens here
at the middle, fometimes however, at the
end of Augiifi.

The Swedifh winter-wheat, and winter-
rye, has been tried in Canada, to fee how
well it would fucceed ; for they employ
nothing but fummer-corn here, it having

• Helianthus annua?;.

been

Lorette, 165

been found, that the French wheat and
rye dies here in winter, if it be fown in
autumn. Dr. Sarrazin has therefore (as
I was told by the eldefl of the two Jefuits
here) got a fmall quantity of wheat and
rye, of the winter-corn fort from Sweden,
It was fown in autumn, not hurt by the
winter, and bore fine corn. The ears
were not fo large as thofe of the Canada
corn, but weighed near twice as much,
and gave a greater quantity of finer flour,
than that fummer-corn. Nobody could
tell me, why the experiments have not
been continued. They cannot, I am told,
bake fuch white bread here, of the fum-
mer-corn, as they can in France^ of their
winter-wheat. Many people have affured
me, that all the fummer-corn, now em-
ployed here, came from Sweden, or ISfor-
way : for the French, on their arrival,
found the winters in Canada too fevere for
the French winter-corn, and their fummer-
corn did not always ripen, on account of
the fhortnefs of fiimmer. Therefore they
began to look upon Canada, as little better
than an ufelefs country, where nobody
could live ; till they fell upon the expe-
dient of getting their fummer-corn from
the mofl northern parts of Europe, which
has fucceeded very well.

L 3 This

i66 Auguji 1749.

This day I returned to ^ehec^ making
botanical obfervations by the way.

Aiiguji ih.Q 1 ^\h. The new governor-
general of all Canada, the marquis de la
yo?tqiiiere, arrived laft night in the river
before ^ebec ; but it being late, he re-
ferved his public entrance for to-day. He
had left France on the fecond of June, but
could not reach ^ebec before this time,
on account of the difficulty which great
{hips find in palling the fands in the river
St. Laiiorence. The (hips cannot venture
to go up, without a fair wind, being forced
to run in many bendings, and frequently
in a very narrow channel. To-day was
another great feaft, on account of the Afcen-
fion of the Virgin Mary^ which is very highly
celebrated in Roman catholic countries.
This day was accordingly doubly remark-
able, both on account of the holiday, and
of the arrival of the new governor-general,
who is always received with great pomp,
as he reprefents a vice-roy here.

About eight o'clock the chief people in
town aflembled at the houfe of Mr. de
Faudreuil, who had lately been nominated
governor of ^rois Rivieres, and lived in the
lower town, and whofe father had like-
wife been governor-general of Canada,
Thither came likewife the marquis de la

Galijfonnierey

^ebec. 167

Gaiijonniere, who had till now been gover-
nor-general, and was to fail for France^
with the firft opportunity. He was ac-
companied by all the people belonging to
the government. I was likewife invited to
fee this feftivity. At half an hour after eight
the new governor-general went from the iLip
into a barge, covered with red cloth, upon
which a lignal with cannons was given
from the ramparts, for all the bells in the
town to be fet a- ringing. All the people
of diftindtion went down to the (bore to
falute the governor, who, on alighting from
the barge, was received by the marquis la
Galijfonniere. After they had faluted each
other, thecommandant of the town addrefled
the new governor-general in a very elegant
fpeech, which he anfwered very concifely;
after which all the cannon on the ramparts
gave a general falute. The whole ftreet,
up to the cathedral, was lined with men in
arms, chiefly drawn out from among the
burgbefTes. The governor-general then
walked towards the cathedral, dreifed in a
fuit of red, with abundance of gold lace.
His fervants went before him in green,
carrying fire-arms on their (boulders. On
his arrival at the cathedral, he was receiv-
ed by the bifliop of Canaddt and the whole
tlergy affembled. The bi(hop was arrayed
L 4 in

i68 Atigujl 1749,

in his pontifical robes, and had a long gilt
tiara on his head, and a great crozier of
malTy filver in his hand. After the bifliop
had addrefTed a fhort fpeech to the gover-
nor-general, a prieft brought a filver cru-
cifix on a long fiick, (two prisfls with light-
ed tapers in their hands, going on each
fide of it) to be kifiTed by the governor.
The bifhop and the priefis then went
through the long walk, up to the choir.
The fervants of the governor-general fol-
lowed with their hats on, and arms on
their fhouldcrs. At lafi: came the gc>ver-
nor-general and his fuite, and after them a
croud of people. At the beginning of the
choir the governor-general, and the gene-
ral de la Galijfonnieret fi:opt before a chair
covered with red cloth, and fi:ood there
during the whole time of the celebration
of the mafs, which was celeorated by the
bifliop himfelf. From the church he went
to the palace, when the gentlemen of note
in the town, afterwards went to pay their
■refpeds to him. The religious of the dif-
ferent orders, with their reipejflive fupe-
riors, likewife came to him, to teftify their
joy on account of his happy arrival. Among
the numbers that came to vifit him, none
fi:aid to dine, but thofe that were invited
l>eforehand, among which I had the ho-
nour

^ebeC. 169

tiour to be. The entertainment lafted very
long, and was as elegant as the occafion
required.

The governor-general, marqnis de la
^onqiilere, was very tall, and at that tiirse
fomething above fixty years old. He had
fought a defperate naval battle with the
JLnglijh in the laft war, but had been obliged
to lurrender, the E?2glijh being, as it was told,
vaftly fuperior in the number of fhips and
men. On this occafion he was wounded
by a ball, which entered one fide of his
flioulder, and came out at the other. He
was very complaifant, but knew how to
preferve his dignity, when he diftributed
favours.

Many of the gentlemen, prefent at this
entertainment, alferted that the following
expedient had been fuccefsfully employed
to keep wine, beer, or water, cool during
fummer. The wine, or other liquor, is
bottled ', the bottles are well corked, hung
up into the air, and wrapped in wet clouts.
This cools the wine in the bottles, not-
withftanding it was quite warm before.
After a little while the clouts are again
made wet, with the coldefl water that is
to be had, and this is always continued.
The wine, or other liquor, in the bottles
is then always colder, than the water with

which

I JO Augufi i749»

which the clouts are made wet. And
though the bottles fliould be hung up in
the liinfhine, the above way of proceed-
ing will always have the fame efFed: *.

Aiigiiji the 1 6th. The occidental Ar-
bor vit^-f, is a tree which grows very
plentiful in Canada, but not much further
fouth. The moft foutherly place I have
ittn it in, is a place a little on the fouth
iide of Saratoga, in the province of New-
Torky and likewife near Cajfes, in the fame
province, which places are in forty-two
degrees and ten minutes north latitude.

Mr. Bartram, however, informed me,
that he had found a fingle tree of this kind
in Virginia, near the falls in the river Jajnes.
Dodor Coiden likewife aiTerted, that he had
feen it in many places round his feat Cold-

ingham,

* It has been obferved by feveral experiments, that any
liquor dipt into another liquor, and then expofed into the
air for evaporation, will get a remarkable degree of cold ;
the quicker the evaporation fucceeds, after repeated dip-
pings, the greater is the cold. Therefore fpirit of wine
evaporating quicker than water, cools more than water;
and fpirit offal ammoniac, made by quick-lime, being flill
more volatile than fpirit of wine, its cooling quality is ftill
greater. The evaporation fucceeds better by moving the
vefTel containing the liquor, by expofing it to the air, and
by blowing upon it, or ufing a pair of bellows. See de
Mairafi, Dijfeitation fur la Glace, Prof. Richman in No'v,
Comment. Petrop. ad an. 1 747? & 1748' P- 284. and Dr.
CulUn in the Edinburgh phyjical and literary EJfays and Qhftr-
njations. Vol. II. p. 145. F.

f T.hiija Qccidentalii, Linn.

Quebec. 171

ingham, which lies between New-Tork^ and
Albanyt about forty-one degrees thirty mi-
nutes north latitude. The Frenchy all over
Canada, call it Cedre blanc. The EngliJIj
and Dutch in Albany, likewife call it the
white Cedar. The Eiiglifi in Virginia^
have called a Thuya, which grows with
them, a 'Juniper.

The places and the foil where it grows
beft, are not always alike, however it
generally fucceeds in fuch ground where its
roots have fufficient moifture. It feems to
prefer fwamps, marflies, and other wetplaces
to all others, and there it grows pretty tall.
Stony hills, and places where a number of
ftonesly together, covered with feveral kinds
of mofies *, feemed to be the next in order
where it grows. When, the fea fliores were
hilly, and covered with mofly ftones, the
Thuya feldom failed to grow on them. It
is likewife feen now and then on the hills
near rivers, and other high grounds, which
are covered with a duft like earth or mould ;
but it is to be obferved that fuch places
commonly carry a fourifh water with them,
or receive moifture from the upper coun-
tries. I have however feen it growing in
fome pretty dry places; but there it never

* Lichen^ Bryum^ Hypnum.

comes

172 Augujl 1749.

comes to any confiderablefize. It is pretty
frequent in the clefts of mountains, but
cannot grow to any remarkable height or
thicknefs. The talleft trees, I have found
in the woods in Canada^ were about thirty
or thirty-fix feet high. A tree of exactly
ten inches diameter had ninety-two rings
round the ftem * 5 another of one foot and
two inches in diameter had one hundred and
forty-two rings '^.

The inhabitants of Canada generally
make ufe of this tree in the following cafes.
It being reckoned the mofi: durable wood
in Canada^ and which bell: withftands pu-
trefadion, fo as to remain undamaged for
above a man's age, enclofures of all kinds
are fcarce made of any other than this wood,
all the pofts which are driven into the
ground, are made of the Thuya wood.
The palifades round the forts in Canada
are likewife made of the fame wood. The
planks in the houfes are made of it ; and
the thin narrow pieces of wood which form^
both the ribs and the bottom of the bark-
boats, commonly made ufe of here, are
taken from this wood, becaufe it is pliant

* Of thefe rings or circles, it is well known all trees get
t one every year, fo that they ferve to afcertain the age ot

;._. trr-:', ;^r,d the quicknefs, or flownefs of its growth. F.
•; The bark is not included, when I fprak of the diameters

c: :• :;fe trees.

enough

enough for the purpofe, efpeclaliy whihl
it is frefh, and likewife becaufe it is very
light. The Thuya wood is reckoned one
of the helf for the uie of hme-kilns. Its
branches are ufed all over Canada for befoms;
and the twigs and leaves of it being natural-
ly bent together, feem to be very proper for
the purpofe. T\\q India?! s ^\^^^Q fuch befoms
and bring them to the towns for fale, nor
do I remember having feen any befoms of
any other vfood. The freili branches have
a peculiar, agreeable fcent, which is pretty
firongly fmelkd in houfes where they make
ufe of befoms of this kind.

This Thuya is made ufe of for feveral
medicinal purpofes. The commandant of
Fort St. Frederic, M. de Lufignan, could
never fufficiently praife its excellence for
rheumatic pains. He told me he had often
feen it tried, with remarkable good fuccefs,
upon feveral perfons, in the following man-
ner. The freih leaves are pounded in a
mortar, and mixed with hog's greafe, or
any other greafe. This is boiled together
till it becomes a falve, which is fpread on
linen, and applied to the part where the
pain is. The falve gives certain relief in a
fhort time. Againll: violent pains, which
move up and down in the thighs, and fome-
timrs fpread all over the body, they rsconi-

nicnd

174 ^^g^ft 1749-

mend the following remedy. Take of the
leaves of a kind of Polypody* four- fifths,
and of the cones of the Thuya one-fifth,
both reduced to a coarfe powder by them-
felves, and mixed together afterwards.
Then pour milk-warm water on it, fo as
to make a poultice, which fpread on linen,
and wrap it round the body : but as the
poultice burns like fire, they commonly lay
a cloth between it and the body, otherwife
it would burn and fcorch the fkin. I have
heard this remedy praifed beyond meafure,
by people who faid they had experienced
its good efifecfls. An Iroquefe Indian told
me, that a decodtion of Thuya leaves was
ufed as a remedy for the cough. In the
neighbourhood of Saratoga, they ufe this
decodtion in the intermitting fevers.

The Thuya tree keeps its leaves, and is
green all winter. Its feeds are ripe towards
the end of September, old ftyle. The fourth
of Ocfober of this year, 1749, fome of the
coneSjefpeciallythofe which flood much ex-
pofcd to the heat of the fun, had already
dropt their feeds, and all the other cones
were opening in order to fhed them. This
tree has, in common with many other Ame-

* P oly podium frondt pinnaiay piiinis ahernh ad haftn fttperne
appendiculaus,

ricati-

^ebec, 175

rican trees, the quality of growing plentiful
in marlhes and thick woods, which may be
with certainty called its native places. How-
ever, there is fcarce a (ingle Thuya tree in
thofe places which bears feeds j if, on the
other hand, a tree accidentally ftands on the
outfide of a wood, on the fea fliore, or in a
field, where the air can freely come at it, it
is always full of feeds. I have found this to
be the cafe with the Thuya, on innumerable
■occadons. It is the fame likewife with the
fugar- maple, the maple which is good for
healing fcorched wounds, the white fir-tree,
the pine called Penijfe, the mulberry- tree
and feveral others.

Auguji thit 17th. This day I went to
fee the nunnery of the UrJulineSy which is
difpofed nearly in the fame way as the two
other nunneries. It lies in the town and
has a very fine church. The nuns are re-
nowned for their piety, and they go lefs
abroad than any others. The men are like-
wife not allowed to go into this monafterj,
but by the fpecial licence of the bifhop,
which is given as a great favour j the royal
phyiician, and the furgeon are alone entitled
to go in as often as they pleafe, to vifit the
fick. At the deiire of the marquis de la
GaUjJomiiere the bifliop granted me leave to
vifit this monaftery together with the royal

phylician

176 'j^uguji 1749.

pbyfician Mr. Gaulthier, On our arrival
we were received by the abbels, who was
attended by a great number of nuns, for
the mod part old ones. We faw the church ;
and, it being Sunday^ we found fome nuns on
every fide of it kneeling by themfelves and
faying prayers. As foon as we came Into
the church, the abbefs and the nuns with
her dropt on their knees, and fo did M.
Caulthicr and myfelf. We then went to
an apartment or fmall- chapel dedicated to
the Virgin Mary ^ at the entrance of which,
they all fell on their knees again. Wq
afterwards faw the kitchen, the dining hall
and the apartment they work in, which is
large and fine. They do all forts of neat
v/ork there, gild picftures, make artificial
flowers, &c. The dining hall is difpofed
in the fame manner as in the other two
.monafleries. Under the tables are fmall
drawers for each nun to keep her napkin,
knife and fork, and other things in. Their
ceils are fmall, and each nun has one to her-*
felf. The v/alls are not painted \ a little
bed, a table with a drawer, and a crucifix,
and pidlures of faints on it, and a chair,
confiitute the whole furniture of a cell.
We were then led into a room full of young
ladies about twelve years old and belov/ that
age, lent hiLaer by their parents to be in-

flrucled

I

Uruded In reading, and In matters of reli-
gion. They are allowed to go to vifit their
relations once a day, but muft not ftay away
long. When they have learnt reading, and
have received inftrudlions in religion, they
return to their parents again. Near the
monaftery, is a fine garden, which is fur-
rounded with a high wall. It belongs to
this inftitution, and is flocked with all forts
of kitchen-herbs and fruit-trees. When
the nuns are at work, or during dinner,
every thing is filent in the rooms, unlefs
fome one of them reads to the others ; but
after dinner, they have leave to take a walk
for an hour or two in the garden, or to
divert themfelves within-doors. After we
had feen every thing remarkable here, we
took our leave, and departed.

About a quarter of a Swediflo mile to the
weft of Quebec y is a v^^ell of mineral waters,
which carries a deal of iron ocker with it,
and has a pretty ftrong tafte. M. Gaul-
thier faid, that he had prefcrlbed it with
fuccefs in coftive cafes and the like difeafes,

I have been affured, that there are no
fnakes in the woods ar..l fields round ^e-
hecy whofe bite is poifonous j fo that one
can fafcly walk in the grafs. I have never
found any that endeavoured to bite, and
all were very fearful. In the fouth parts

Vol. III. M of

i7§ ^uguft 1749.

of Canada^ it Is not advifeable to ber off
one's guard.

A very fmall fpecies of black ants* live
in ant-hills, in high grounds, in woods i
they look exactly like our Swedijh ants, but
are muchlefs.

Augufi the 21ft. To-DAY there were
fome people of three Indian nations in this
country with the governor -general, viz.
Hurons, Mickmacks, ^.nd Ames -f -, the I aft
of which are a nation of Iroguefe, and allies
of the Englijhy and were taken prifoners in
the laft war.

The Hurons are fome of the fame In^
dians with thofe who live at LorettCt and
have received the chriftian religion. They
are tall, robufl: people, well fhaped, and of
a copper colour. They have fhort black
hair, which is fhaved on the forehead, from
one ear to the other. None of them wear
hats or caps. Some have ear-rings, others
not. Many of them have the face painted
all over with vermillion ; others have only
flrokes of it on the forehead, and near the
ears ; and fome paint their hair with ver-
million. Red is tht colour they chiefly
make ufe of in painting themfelves -, but I

• Formica nigra> Linn.
t Probably Onidoes,

have

havellkewife feen fome, who had daubed
their face with a black colour. Many of
them have figures in the face, and on the
whole body, which are flained into the
fkin, (o as to be indelible. The manner
of making them fliall be defcribed in the
fequel. Thefe figures are commonly black j
fome have a fnake painted in each cheek,
fame have feveral crofTes, fome an arrow,
others the fun, or any thing elfe their ima-
gination leads them to. They have fuch
figures likewife on the breaft, thighs, and
other parts of the body; but fome have no
figures at all. They wear a (hirt, which is
either white or checked, and a fl^iaggy piece
of cloth, which is either blue or white,
with a blue or red flripe below. This
they always carry over their flioulders, or
let it hang down, in which cafe they wrap
it round their middle. Round their neck>
they have a firing of violet wampumss
with little white wampums between them.
Thefe wampums are fmall, of the figure
of oblong pearls, and made of the fhells
which the Englifi call clams*. I fliall
make a more particular mention of them
in the fequel. At the end of the wampum
firings, many of the Indians wear a large

* Venus mercenar'ia. Linn,

M a French

i8o Aiigiijl 1749.

French filver coin, with the king's effigy,
on their breafts. Others have a large fhell
on the breaft, of a fine white colour, which
they value very high, and is very dear j
others, again, have no ornament at all
round the neck. They all have their
breafls uncovered. Before them hangs
their tobacco-pouch, made of the ikin of
an animal, and the hairy fide turned out-
wards. Their fhoes are made of ikins,
and bear a great refeniblance to the fhoes
without heels, which the women in Fin-
land make ufe of. Inftead of ftockings,
they wrap the legs in pieces of blue cloth,
as I have feen the Rzif/ian boors do.

The Mickmacks are dreffed like the Hil-
ronSf but dillinguifh themfelves by their
long ftrait hair, of a jetty-black colour.
Almoft all the Indians have black ftrait
hair ; however, I have met with a few,
whofe hair was pretty much curled. But
it is to be obferved, that it is difficult to
judge of the true complexion of the Cana-
da Indians t their blood being mixed with
rhe Europeans, either by the adopted pri-
foners of both fexes, or by the Frenchmen,
who travel in the country, and often con-
tribute their ffiare towards the encreafe of
the Indian families, their women not being
very Ihy. The Mickmacks are commonly

not

^lebec. 1 8 1

not fo tall as the Hurons. I have not ^tttw
any Indians whofe hair was as long and
ftrait as theirs. Their language is different
from that of the Hurons ; therefore there
is an interpreter here for them on purpofe.
The Anies are the third kind of Indians
which came hither. Fifty of them went
out in the war, being allies of the Englijh,
in order to plunder in the neighbourhood of
Montreal. But the French, being informed
of their fcheme, laid an ambufli, and killed
with the iiril: difcharge of their guns forty-
four of them ; fo that only the four who
were here to-day faved their lives, and two
others, who were ill at this time. They
are as tall as the Hurons, whofe language
they fpeak. The Hurcns feem to have a
longer, and the Anies a rounder face. The
Anies have fomething cruel in their looks ;
but their drefs is the fame as that of the
other Indians. They wear an oblong piece
of white tin between the hair which lies on
the neck. One of thofe i faw had taken a
Howerof the rofe mallow, out of a garden,
where it was in full bloffom at this time,
and put it among the hair at the top of his
head. Each of the Indians has a tobacco-
pipe of grey lime-ftone, which is blackened
afterwards, and has a long tube of wood.
There were no Indian women prefent at
M 3 thi$

1 82 Augufi 1749.

this enterview. As foon as the governorr
general came in, and was feated in order
to fpeak with thenij the Mickmacks fat
down on the ground, hke Laplanders^ but
the other Indians took chairs.

There is no printing- prefs in Canada^
tho' there formerly was one : but all books
are brought from France, and all the orders
made in the country are written, which
extends even to the paper-currency. They
pretend that the prefs is not yet intro-
duced here^ left it fhould be the means of
propagating libels againft the government,
and religion. But the true reafon feems
to ly in the poornefs of the country, as no
printer could put oft a fufficient number
of books for his fubfifience 5 and another
reafon may be, that France may have the
profit arifing from the exportation of books
hither.

The meals here are in many refpeds
diiTerent from thofe in the Fnglijlo pro-
vinces. This perhaps depends upon the
difference of cuftom, tafte, and religioHj
between the two nations. They eat three
meals a day, ijiz, breakfafl, dinner, and
fupper. They breakfaft commonly be-
tween feven and eight. For the French
here rife very early, and the governor-
general can be Ipoke to at feven o'clock,

which

^ebec, 183

which is the time when he has his levee.
Some of the men dip a piece of bread in
brandy, and eat it -, others take a dram of
brandy, and eat a piece of bread after it.
Chocolateislikewife very common for break-
faft, and many of the ladies drink coffee.
Some eat no breakfaft at all. I have never
ittn tea made ufe of,- perhaps becaufe they
can get coffee and chocolate from the
French provinces in South- America -, but
muft get tea from China^ for which it is
not worth their while to fend the money
out of their country. Dinner is pretty
exad;ly at noon. People of quality have
a great variety of di{hes, and the reft fol-
low their example, when they invite Gran-
gers. The loaves are oval, and baked of
wheat flour. For each perfon they^ put a
plate, napkin, fpoon, and fork. Some-
times they likewife give knives ; but they
are generally omitted, all the ladies and
gentlemen being provided with their own
knives. The fpoons and forks are of Hl-
ver, and the plates of Delft ware. The
meal begins with a foup, with a good deal
of bread in it. Then follow frefh meats
of various kinds, boiled, and roafted, poul-
try, or game, fricaffees, ragoos, ^c. of
feveral forts 3 together with different kinds
of fallads. They commonly drink red
M 4 clarci

i84 ^f^g^fl 1749-

claret at dinner, mixed with water ; and
fpruce beer is likewife nnuch in ufe. The
ladies drink water, and fometimes wine.
After dinner the fruit and fweet-meats are
ferved up, which are of many different
kinds, 'uiz. walnuts from France, or Ca-
naddy either ripe, or pickled ; almonds,
raifins, hafelnuts, feveral kinds of berries,
"which are ripe in the fummer fealbn, fuch
as currants, cran-berries, which are pre-
ferved in treacle j many preferves in fugar
as ftraw-berries, rafp-berries, black-berries,
and mofs-berries. Cheefe is likeu'ife a
part of the defert, and fo is milk, which
they eat laft of all with fugar. Friday and
Saturday they eat no flefh, according to
the Roman catholic rites .; but they well
know how to guard -againft hunger. On thofe
days they boil all forts of kitchen-herbs,
and fruit -, fiflies, eggs, and milk, prepar-
ed in various ways. They cut cucumbers
into flices, and eat them with cream, which
is a very good difh. Sometimes they put
whole cucumbers on the table, and every
body that likes them takes one, peels, and
flices it, and dips the flices into fait, eat-
ing them like raddiflies. Melons abound
here, and are always eaten with fugar.
They never put any fugar into wine, or
brandy, and upon the whole, they and the

Englifi

Quebec* 1B5

^ngUJh do not ufe haif {o much Aigar, as
we do in Sweden ; though boti: t:;„tions
have large fugar-plantations in their Weji^
Indian polTeijions. They fay no grace before,
or after their meals, but only crofs them^
felves, which is Iilewife omitted by fome.
Immediately after dinner, they drink a difh
of ccfiee, without cream. Supper is com-
moF^kly :it {zwQu o'clock, or between feven
and eight at nighr, and the difhes the fame
as at dinner. Pudding and punch is not
to be met with here, though the latter is
well known.

All gii ft ih.G. 2 i^A. In many places here-
abouts they ufe their dogs to fetch water
out of the river. I fiw two great dogs to
day put before a little cart, one before the
other. They had neat harnefs, like horfes,
and bits in their mouths. In the cart was
a barrel. The dogs are directed by a boy,
who runs behind the cart, and as foon as
they come to the river, they jump in, of
their own accord. When the barrel is
filled, the dogs draw their burthen up the
hill again, to the houfe they belong to.
I have frequently feen>.dogs employed in
this manner, during my flay at ^lebec.
Sometimes they put but one dog before the
water-carts, which are made fmall on pur-
pofe. The dogs are not vtx^ great, hard-

ly

1 86 -^^gnft 1749'

\y of the fize of our common farmers dogs.
The boys that attend them have great
whips, with which they make them go
on occafionally. I have feen them fetch
not only water, but Hkcwife wood, and
other things. In winter it is cuftomary in
Canada^ for travellers to put dogs before
little fledges, made on purpofe to hold
their clothes, provifions, &c. Poor people
commonly employ them on their winter-
journies, and go on foot themfelves. Al-
moft all the wood, which the poorer peo-
ple in this country fetch out of the woods
in winter, is carried by dogs, which have
therefore got the name of horfes of the
poor people. They commonly place a pair
of dogs before each load of wood. I have
likewife feen feme neat little fledges, for
ladies to ride in, in winter; they are drawa
by a pair of dogs, and go fader on a good
road, than one would think. A middle-
fized dog is fufficlent to draw a Angle per^
fon, when the roads are good. I have
been told by old people, that horfes were
very fcarce here in their youth, and almoft
all the land-carriage was then effedied by
dogs. Several Frenchmen t who have been
among the Efqumaux on Terra Labrador,
have aflured me, that they not only- make
ufe of dogs for drawing drays, with their

provifions,

^ebec, 187

provifions, and other neceflaries, but are
likewife drawn by them then:irelves, in lit^
tie fledges.

Aiigujl the 25th. The high hills, to
the welt of the town, abound with fprings.
Thefe hills confift of the black lime-flate,
before mentioned, and are pretty fteep, fo
that it is difficult to get to the top. Their
perpendicular height is about twenty or
four and twenty yards. Their fummits
are deftitute of trees, and covered with a
thin cruft of earth, lying on the lime-flates,
and are employed for corn-fields, or paf-
tures. It feems inconceivable therefore,
from whence thefe naked hills could take
fo many running fprings, which in fome
places gufh out of the hills, like torrents.
Have thefe hills the quality of attrad:ing
the water out of the air in the day time,
or at night ? Or are the lime-flates more
apt to it, than others ?

All the horfes in Canada are flrong,
well made, fwift, as tall as ihe horfes of
our cavalry, and of a breed imported from
France. The inhabitants have the cuftom
of docking the tails of their horfes, which
is rather hard upon them here, as they
cannot defend themfelves againft the nu-
merous fwarms of gnats, gad-fiies, and
horfe-fiies. They put the horfes one be-
fore

i88 ^^ig^^fi ^749'

fore the other in their carts, which has
probably occaiioned the docking of their
tails, as the horfes would hurt the eyes of
thofe behind them, by moving their tails
backwards and forwards. The governor-
general, and a few of the chief people in
town, have coaches, the reli make ufe of
open horie-chairs. It is a general com-
plaint, that the country people begin to
keep too many horfe?, by which means
the cows are kept ihon of food in wiiiter.
The cows have likewife been imported
from France, and are of the fize of our
common Swedijh cows. Every body agreed
that the cattle, which were born of the
original French breed, never grow up to
the fame fize. This they afcribe to the
cold winters, during which they are oblig-
ed to put their cattle into ftables, and give
them but little food. Almofl all the cows
have horns, a fev/, however, 1 have ifL^xi
without them. A cow without horns
would be reckoned an unheard of curio-
lity in Pefifyhania, Is not this to be at-
tributed to the cold ? The cows give as
much milk here as in France. The beef
and veal at ^ebecy is reckoned fatter and
more palatable than at Montreal. Some
look upon the falty p^dures below ^lebec,
^s the caufe of this difference. But this

does

^lebcc. 189

does not feem fufficient -, for moft of the
cattle, which are fold at ^ebecy have no
meadows with Arrow-headed grafs'^, on
which they graze. Jn Canada the oxen
draw with the horns, hut in the Englijh
colonies they draw with their withersy as
horfes do. The cows vary in colour; how-
ever, moft of them are either red, or
black.

Every countryman commonly keeps a
few fheep, which ftipply him with as much
wool as he wants to cloth himfelf with.
The better fort of clothes are brought from
France. The fheep degenerate here, after
they are brought from France^ and their
progeny flill more fo. The want of food
in winter is faid to caufe this degeneration.

1 HAVE not {fLtn any goats in Canada,
and I have been alTured that there are none.
I have feen but very few in the E?7glifi
colonies, and only in their towns, where
they are kept on accouni of fome fick peo-
ple, who drink the milk by the advice of
their phyficians.

The harrows sre triangular; two of the
fides are fix feet-, and the third four feet
long. The teeth, and every other part of
the harrows are of wood. The teeth are

* Triglochin.

about

190 Augujt 1749.

about five inches long, and about as mucli
diftant from each other.

The profpecft of the country about a
quarter of a mile SwediJJj, north of '^lebec,
on the weft fide of the river St. Lawrenci^
is very fine. The country is very fteep
towards the river, and grows higher as you
go further from the water. In many places
it is naturally divided into terraces. From
the heights, one can look a great way :
^lebec appears very plain to the fouth, and
the river St. Lawrence to the eaft, on which
were velTcls failing up and down. To the weft:
are the high mountains, which the hills of
the river end with. All the country is laid
out for corn-fields, meadows, and pafturesj
moft of the fields were fown with wheat,
many with white oats, and fome with peafe.
Several fine houfes and farms are inter-'
fperfed all over the country, and none ^are
ever together. The dwelling - houfe is
commonly built of black lime-flates, and .
generally white-waflied on the outfidci
Many rivulets and brooks roll down the
high grounds, above which the great moun-
tains ly, and which confift entirely of th e
black lime-flates, that fhiver in pieces in
the open air. On the lime-flates lies a
mould of two or three feet in depth. The
foil in the corn-fields is always mixed with

little

little pieces of the lime-flate. All the livu-
' lets cut their beds deep into the ground ;
fo that their fhores are commonly of lime-
flate. A dark-grey lime-flone is fometimes
found among the ftrata, which, when
broke, fmells like flink-ftone.

They were now building feveral (liip?
below ^ebec, for the king's account. How-
ever, before my departure, an order arrived
from France) prohibiting the further build-
ing of (hips of war, except thofe which
were already on the ftocks ; becaufe they
had found, that the (hips built ol American
oak do not lad fo long as thofe oi European
oak. Near ^ebec is found very little oak,
and what grows there is not fit for ufe, be-
ing very fmall j therefore they are obliged
to fetch their oak timber from thofe parts
of Canada which border upon New-Kng-
land. But all the North- American oaks
have the quality of lading longer, and with-
flanding putrefadion better, the further
north they grow, and vice 'verfd. The
timber from the confines of New-England
is brought in floats or rafts on the rivers
near thofe parts, and near the lake St.
Pierre, which fall into the great river St.
Lawrence. Some oak is likewife brought
from the country between Montreal and
Fort St. Frederic y or Fort Champlaih-, but

4 it

192 Aiigiijl 1749.

it is not reckoned fo good as the firfl:, and the
place it comes from is farther diftant.

Aiiguji the 26th. They fhewed a green
earth, which had been brought to the ge-
neral, marquis de la Galijformierc, from the
upper parts of Canada. It was a clay^
which cohered very fall together, and was
of a green colour throughout, like verdi-
greafe.-f-

All the brooks in Cajtada contain craw-
ii{h, of the fame kind with ours. The
French are fond of eating them, and fay
they are vailly decreafed in number fince
they have begun to catch them.

The common people in the country,
feem to be very poor. They have the necef-
faries of life, and but little elfe. They
are content with meals of dry bread and
water, bringing all other provifions, fuch
as butter, cheefe, flefh, poultry, eggs, ^c.
to town, in order to get money for them,
for which they buy clothes and brandy
for themfelves, and dreiTes for their wo-
men. Notwithftanding their poverty,
they are always chearful, and in high
fpirits.

Augujl the 29th. By the defire of the
governor-general, marquis de la Jonquiere,

f It was probably impregnated with particles of copper
ore.

and

Prom ^Ebec to Bay St. Pan!. igj

and of marquis de la Galijfonniere, I kt
our, with fome French gentlemen, to vifit
the pretended filver-mine, or the lead-
mine, near the bay St. Paul. I was glad
to undertake this journey, as it gave mc
an opportunity of feeing a much greater
part of the country, than I (hould other-
v/ife have done. This morning therefore
we fet out on our tour in a boat, and
went down the river St. Lawrence.

The harveft was now at hand, and I
faw ali the people at work in the corn-
fields. They had began to reap wheat and
oats, a week ago.

The profped: near Quebec is very lively
from the river. The town lies very high,
and all the churches, and other buildings^
appear very confpicuous. The fhips in the
river below ornament the landfcape on
that fide. The powder magazine, v/hich
flands at the fummit of the mountain, on
which the town is built, towers above all
the other buildings.

The country we palled by afforded a no
lefs charming fight. The river St. Law-
rence flows nearly from fouth to north
here ; on both fides of it are cultivated
fields, but more on the weft fide than on
the eaft fide. The hills on both fhores
are fteep, and high. A number of fine

Vol. IIL N hills.

194 ^^igiift ^7^9-

hills, feparated from each other, large
fields, which looked quite white from the
corn with which they are covered, and
excellent woods of deciduous trees, made
the country round us look very plea-
fant. Now and then we faw a church
of ftone, and in feveral places brooks fell
from the hills into the river. Where the
brooks are confiderable, there they have
made faw- mills, and water-mills.

After rowing for the fpace of a French
mile and a half, we came to the ille of
Orleans, which is a large ifland, near {tstn.
French miles and a half long, and almoft
two of thofe miles broad, in the widefl
part. It lies in the middle of the river
St. Lawrence^ is very high, has fteep and
very woody fliores. There are fome places
without trees, which have farm-houfes be-
low, quite clofe to the fhore. The ifle
iifelf is well cultivated, and nothing but
fine houfes of Hone, large corn-fields, mea-
dows, paftures, woods of deciduous trees,,
and fome churches built of ftone, are to
be feen on it.

We went into that branch of the river
which flows on the v/eft lide of the ifle of
Orleans, it being the fhortefl:. It is rec-
koned about a quarter of a French mile
broad, but fhips cannot take this road, on

account

From ^ebec to Bay St. PauL 195

account of the fand-banks, which ly here
near the projedling points of land, and on
account of the fhallownefs of the water,
the rocks, and ftones at the bottom. The
fhores on both fides ftill kept the fame
appearance as before. On the weft fide,
or on the continent, the hills near the river
confift throughout of black lime-Hate, and
the houfes of the peafants are made of
this kind of ftone, white-wafhed on the
outfide. Some few houfes are of different
kinds of ftone; ,The row of ten moun-
tains, which is on the weft fide of the
river, and runs nearly from fouth to north,
gradually comes nearer to the river : for
at ^ebec they are near two Frejich miles
diftant from the ftiore j but nine French
miles lower down the river, they are al-
moft clofe to the ftiore. Thefe mountains
are generally covered with woods, but in
fome places the woods have been deftroyed
by accidental fires. About eight French
miles and a half from ^lebec, on the weft-
fide of the river, is a church, called St.
Anne, clofe to the fliore. This church is
remarkable, becaufe the ftiips from France
and other parts, as foon as they are got
fo far up the river St. Lawrence, as to get
fight of it, give a general difcharge of their
artillery, as a fign of joy, that they have
N 2 paft

196 Augtijl ly^g*

paft all danger in the river, and have efcap-
ed all the fands in it.

The water had a pale red colour, and
was very dirty in thofe parts of the river,
which we faw to-day, though it was every
where computed abov© fix fathoms deep.
Somewhat below St. Anne, on the weft
fide of the river St. Lawrence, another ri-
ver, called la Grande Riviere^ or the Great
River, falls in it. Its water flows with
fuch violence, as to make its way almoft
into the middle of the branch of the river
St. Lawrence, which runs between the con-
tinent, and the ifle of Orleans.

About two o'clock in the afternoon the
tide began to flow up the river, and the
wind being likewife againft us, we could
not proceed any farther, till the tide be-
gan to ebb. We therefore took up our
night lodgings in a great farm, belonging
to the priefts in ^ebec, near which is a
fine church, called St. Joachim, after a
voyage of about eight French miles. We
were exceeding well received here. The
king has given all the country round about
this place to the feminary, or the priefis at
^luebec, who have leafed it to farmers, who
have built houfes on it. Here are two
priefts, and a number of young boys, whom
they inftrud in reading, writing, and La-
tin.

From ^ebec to Bay Sl Paul. 197

tin. Moft of thefe boys are defigned for
priefts : Direflly oppofite this farm, to
the eaftward, is the north-eaft point, or
the extremity of the ifle of Orleans.

All the gardens in Canada abound with
red currant fhrubs, which were at firft
brought over from Europe. They grow
exceffively well here, and the flirubs, or
bufhes, are quite red, being covered all
over with the berries.

The wild vines* grow pretty plentifully
in the woods. In all other parts of Ca^
nada they plant them in the gardens, near
arbours, and fummer-houfes. The fum-
mer~houfes are made entirely of laths, over
which the vines climb with their ten-
drils, and cover them entirely with their fo-
liage, fo as to flielter them entirely from the
heat of the fun. They are very refrefhing
and cool, in fummer.

The ftrong contrary winds obliged us to
ly all night at St. Joachim.

Augufi the 30th. This morning we
continued our journey in fpite of the wind,
which was very violent againfl us. The
water in the river begins to get a brackidi
tafte, when the tide is higheft, fomewhat
below St. Joachim, and the further one

* Vitis labrufca & vulpina.

N 3 goes

19^ ^ugujl 1749.

goes down, the more the faline tafte encreafes.
At firft the weflern {here of the river has
fine, but low corn-fields, but foon after
the high mountains run clofe to the river
fide. Before they come to the river the
hilly Olores confift of black lime-flate ; but
as foon as the high mountains appear on
the river fide, the lime-Hates dilappear.
For the fi:one, of v/hich the high moun-
tains confift, is a chalky rock-ftone, mixed
with glimmer and quartz ^^ The glimmer
is black ; the quartz partly violet, and
partly grey. All the four conftituent parts
are fo well mixed together, as not to be
eafily feparated by aa inftrument, though
plainly diflinguilliable with the eye. Dur-
ing our journey to-day, the breadth of the
river was generally three French miles.
They fhewed me the turnings the fhips
are obliged to fail in, which feem to be very
troublefome, as they are obliged to bear
away for either fhore, as occafion requires,
or as the rocks and fands in the river oblige
them to do.

For the difiance of five French miles we
had a very dangerous paffage to go throughj;
for the whole weilern (hore, along which
we rowed, confids of very high and fteep

* Saxum micaceo quarzofo-calcarium.

mountains^

From ^ebec to Bay St. Paul. 199

mountains, where we could not have found
a fingle place to land with fafety, during
the fpace of five miles, in cafe a high wind
had arifen. There are indeed two or three
openings, or holes, in the mountains, into
which one could have drawn the boat, in
the greatefl danger. But they are {o nar-
row, that in cafe the boat could not find
them in tlie hurry, it would inevitably be
dafhed againft the rocks. Thefe high
mountains are either quite bare, or cover-
ed with fome fmall firs, ilanding far afun-
der. In fome places there are great clefts,
going down the mountains, in which trees
grow very clofe together, and are taller
than on the other parts of the mountain;
fo that thofe places look like quick-hedges,
planted on the folid rock. A little while
after we pafi^ed a fmall church, and fome
farms round it. The place is called Pe-
tite Riviere, and they fay, its inhabitants
are very poor, which feems very probable.
They have no more land to cultivate, than
what lies between the mountains and the
river, which in the wideft part is not above
three muiket (liot, and in moft parts but
one broad. About feven teen Frd'/z^// miles
from ^ebec the water is fo falty in the
river, that no one can drink it, our rowers
therefore provided themfelves with a kettle
N 4 full

200 Augufi i749»

full of frefh water this morning. About
five o'clock in the eveningj we arrived at
bay St. Pauly and took our lodgings with
the priefts, who have a fine large houfe here,
^nd entertained us very hofpitably.

Bay St. Faiil is a fmall parifli, about
eighteen French miles below ^iebec, lying
at fome diftance from the ftiore of a bay
formed by the river, on a low plain. It is
furrcunded by high mountains on every fide,
pne large gap excepted, which is over-
againft the river. All the farms are at fome
difiance from each other. The church is
reckoned one of the moft ancient in Gana^
da't Vvhich feems to be confirmed by its bad
archited:ure, and want of ornaments i for
the walls are formed of pieces of timber,
ere(fled at about two feet diftance from each
Other, fupporting the roof. Between thefe
pieces of timber, they have made the walls
of the church of lime-ilate. The roof is
flat. The church has no (leeple, but a bell
fixed above the roof, in the open air. Al-
moft allthe country in this neighbourhood
belongs to the priefls, who have leafed it to
the farmers. The inhabitants live chiefly
upon agriculture and making of tar, which
lafi is fold at ^lebec.

This country being low, and fituated
upon a bay of the river, it may be conjec-
tured,

Bay Sf. Paid. 20 1

tured, that this flat ground was formerly
part of the bottom of the river, and formed
itfelf, either by a decreafe of water in the
river, or by an encreafe of earth, which
was carried upon it from the continent by
the brooks, cr thrown on it by llorms. A
great part of the plants, which are to be met
with here, are likewife marine -, fuch as
glafs-wort, fea milk-wort, and fea-flde
peafe-f*. But when I have afked the inhabi-
tants, whether they find Ihells in the
ground by digging for wells, they always
anfwered in the negative. 1 received
the fame anfwer from thofe who live in the
low fields diredtly north of ^.lebec, and all
agreed, that they never found any thing by
digging, but different kinds of earth and
fand.

It is remarkable, that there is generally
a different wind in the bay from that in the
river, which arifes from the high mountains,
covered with tall woods, with which it is
furrounded on every fide but one. For ex-
ample, when the wind comes from the
river, it ftrikes againft one of the mountains
at the entrance of the bay, it is refleded,
and confequently takes a direction quite
different from what it had before.

f Saliccr/iia, Giaux, Pifum viarltimum,

I FOUND

202 Augujl 1749.

I FOUND fand of three kinds upon the
{liore ; one is a clear coarfe fand, confining
of anguiated grains of quartz, and is very
common on the ihore ; the other is a fine
black fand, v*^hich I have hkewife found
in abundance on the fhores of lake Cham-
plain, '^ and which is common all over Ca-
nada, Almoil every grain of it is attradled
by the magnet. Befides this, there is a
granet coloured fand -j-, which is likewife
very fine. This may owe its origin to the
granet coloured grains of fand, which are
to be found in all the fi:ones and mountains
here near the (liore. The fand may have
arifen from the crumbled pieces of fome
flones, or the fiones may have been com-
pofed of it, I have found both this and the
black fand on the fhores, in fsveral parts of
this journey ; but the black fand was always
the moft plentiful.

Augiift (^^ 311^- All the high hills in
the ncighbouihood fent up a fmoke ihis
morning, as irom a charcoal- kiln.

Gnats are innumerable here; and as
foon as one looks out of doors, they imme-
diately attack hiin ; and they are ilill worfe
in the woods. Thty are exadiy the fame

* See p. 24. of this volume.
j See p. 24. of this voluine.

gnats

Bay St. Paul. 203

gnats as our common Swedijh ones, being
only fomewhatlefsthan ih^ North- American
gnats all are. Near Fort St. Jearii I have
likewife feen gnats which were the fame
with ours, but they were fomewhat bigger,
almoft of the fizs of our crane-flies*,
Thofe which are here, are beyond meafure
blood-thirfty. However, I comforted my-
felf, becaufe the time of their difappearance
was near at hand.

This afternoon we went flill lower down
the river St. Lawrefice, to a place, where,
we were told, there were filver or lead
mines. Somewhat below bay St. Paul,
we palTed a neck of land, which coniifts
entirely of a grey, pretty compact lime-
ftonCj lying in dipping, and almoii perpen-
dicular ftrata. It feems to be merely a va-
riety of the black lime-ilates. The flrata
dip to the fouth-eaft, and balTet out to the
north -weft. The thicknefs of each is from
ten to fifteen inches. When the ft(3ne is
broken, it has a ftrong fmell, like ftink-
ftone. We kept, as before, to the wefcern
fliore of the river, which confifts of nothing
but fteep mountains and rocks. The river
is not above ihitt Frefich miles broad here.
Now and then we could fee flripes in the

* Tipula horiorum. Linn.

rock,
2

204 ■^^g^fi 1 749*

rock of a fine white, loofe, feml-opaque
ipar. In fonie places of the river are pieces
of rock as big as houfcs, which had rolled
from the mountains in fpring. The places
they formerly occupied are plainly to be |
feen.

In feveral places, they have eel-traps in
the river, like thofe I have before de-
fcribed ■\.

By vvay of amufement, I wrote down a
few Algonkin words, which I learnt from a
yefuit who has been a long time among
\\\Q Algonkins. They call water, mukmnan ;
the head, iijiigon ; the heart, uta ; the body,
veetras i the foot, uk/uta ; a little boat,
itJJj -y a fliip, nabikoan \ fire, Jkute ; hay,
mafioofee-y the hare, whabus \ (they have a
verb, which exprefies the adlion of hunt-
ing hares, derived from the noun) ; the
marten, whabijlanis ; the elk, mooju ^* (but
fo that the final u is hardly pronounced) ; the

f See p. 92. of this volume.

* The famous mocfe-detr is accordingly nothing but an
e!k ; for no one can deny the derivation of ?nooJe-deer from
imcoju. Confidering efpecially, that before the Jroquefe or
Five Nations grew to that power, which they at prefent have
all over North- America, the Algonkins were then the leading
nation among the Indians, and their language was of courfe
then a moft univerfal language over the greater part of
North- Ain;rica ; and though they have been very nearly de-
ftroyed by the Iroqu/e, their language is fiill more univerfal
in Can.ida, than any of the reft. F.

rein-

Terre d'Ehotilement. 205

Tein-deer, attickw, the moufe, mawkuljis.
The Jefiiit who told me thofe particulars,
likewife informed me, that he had great
reafon to believe, that, if any Indimis
here owed their origin to T^atariciy he
thought the Algonkins certainly did; for
their language is univerfally fpoken in that
-^2^x10^ Noi'th- America, which lies far to the
weft o^ Canada, towards y^JIa. It is faid to
be a very copious language ; as for example,
the verb to go upon the ice, is entirely diffe-
rent in the Algonkin from to go upon dry
land, to go upon the mountains, &c.

Late at night we arrived at Terre d' E-
boulement, which is twenty-two French
miles from ^lebec, and the laft cultivated
place on the weftern fliore of the river St.
Lawrence. The country lower down is
(aid to be i^ mountainous, that no body can
live in it, there not being a fingle fpot of
ground, which could be tilled. A little
church, belonging to this place, ftands on
the fliore, near the water.

No walnut-trees grow near this village,
nor are there any kinds of them further
north of this place. At bay St. Paul, there
are two or three walnut-trees of that fpecies
which the Englijh call butter-nut-trees ;
but they are looked upon as great rarities,

and

I

266 Augiift 17,9.

and there are no others in the neighbour-
hood.

Oaks of all kinds, will not grow near
this place, nor lower down, or further
north.

Wheat is the kind of corn which is
fown in the greatefl quantities here. The
foil is pretity fertile, and they have fome-
times got twenty-four or twenty-fix bufhels
from one, though the harveft is generally
ten or twelve fold. The bread here is
whiter than any where elfe in Canada.

They fow plenty of oats, and it fucceeds
better than the wheat.

They fow likewife a great quantity of
peas, which yield a greater encreafe than
any corn -, and there are examples of its
producing an hundred fold.

Here are but few birds j and thofe that
pafs the fummer here, migrate in autumn j
fo that there are no other birds than fnow-
birds, red partridges, and ravens, in win-
ter. Even crows do not venture to expofe
tbemfelves to the rigours of winter, but
take flight in autumn.

The Bull-frogs live in the pools of this
neighbourhood. Fire jiies are likewife to
be found here.

Instead of candles, they make ufe of
lamps in country places, in which they

burn

Terj-e d'Ehoulemenie. 207

burn train-oil of porpeiTc:?, which is the
common oil here. Whf re they have none
of it, they fiipply its place with train-oil
of feals.

September the ift. There was a woman
with child in this village, who was now
in the fifty-ninth year of her age. She had
not had the catamenia during eighteen
years. In the year 1748, The got the
fmall-pox, and now ("he was very big. She
faid {he was very well, and could feel the
motions of the foetus. She looked very
well, and had her hufband alive. This
being an uncommon cafe, (lie was brought
to the royal phyfician, M. Gaulthier, vi^ho
accompanied us on this journey.

At half an hour after feven this morn-
ing we went down the river. The coun-
try near T^erre d'Eboulemeitt is high, and
confifls of hills of a loofe mould, which \y
in three or four rows above each other, and
are all well cultivated, and moflly turned
into corn-fields ; though there are likewife
meadows and paftures.

The great earthquake which happened
in Canada, in February y 1663, and v.^hich
is mentioned by Charlevoix '^, has done
confiderable damage to this place. Pvlany

* Sec his H'jioire de la NcHvel'e France, Tom. II, p. m.
135.

hills

205 September 1749.

hills tumbled down ; and a great part oi
the corn-fields on the loweft hills were de*-
ftroyed. They {hewed me feveral little
iflands, which arofe in the river on this
occafion.

There are pieces of black lime-flate
fcattered on thole hills, which confift of
mould. For the fpace of eight French
miles along the fide of the river, there is
not a piece of lime-flate to be feen ; but
inftead of it, there are high grey moun-
tains, confiding of a rock-ftone, which
contains a purple and a cryftaline quartz,
mixed with lime-flone, and black glim-
mer. The roots of thefe mountains go
into the vv^ater. We now begin to fee the
lime-flates again.

Here are a number of Terns *, which
fly about, and make a noife along the fhore.

The river is here computed at about
four Fre?ich miles broad.

On the fides of the river, about two
French miles inbnd, there are fuch terraces
of earth as at 'Terre iEbouiement j but foon
after they are fucceeded by high difagree-
able mountains.

Several brooks fall into the river here,
over the fteep fhores, with a great noife.
The fhores are fometimes feveral yards-

* Sterna hirundo Linn.

hlgh^

Terre d^EbouIemenL 209

high, and confift either of earth, or of
iock-ftone.

One of thefe brooks, which flows over
a hill of lime-flone, contains a mineral wa-
ter. It has a flrong fmell of fulphur, is
Very clear, and does not change its colour,
when mixed with gall-appIcs. If it is
poured into a lilver cup, it looks as if the
cup was gilt ; and the water leaves a fedi-
ment of a crimfon colour at the bottom.
The flones and pieces of wood, which ly
in the water, are covered with a flimej
which is pale grey at the top, and black at
the bottom of the fione. This ilime has
not much pungency, but tafles like oil of
tobacco. My hands had a fulphureous
fmell all day, becaufe I had handled fome
of the flimy ftones.

The black lime-flate now abounds agaiPi
near the level of the water. It lies in
flrata, which are placed almoft perpendi-
cularly near each other, inclining a little
towards W. S. W. Each ftratum is be-
tween ten and fifteen inches thick. Moft
of them are fliivered into thin leaves at the
top, towards the day ; but in the inGde,
whither neither fun^ nor air and water can
penetrat^^ they are clofe and compact.
Some of thefe ftones are not quite black,
but have a greyifh caft.

Vol. IIL O About

210 September 1749.

About noon we arrived at Cap aux
Oyes, or Gee/e Cape, which has probably-
got its name from the number of wild
geQ(Q which the French found near it, on
their firft arrival in Ca?iada. At prefent,
we faw neither gttk, nor any kind of birds
here, a fingle raven excepted. Here we
were to examine the renowned metallic
veins in the mountain ; but found nothing
more than fmall veins of a fine white fpar,
containing a few fpecks of lead ore. Cap
mix Oyes is computed twenty- two, or
twenty-five French miles diftant from ^e-
bec. I was moft pleafed by finding, that
mofl of the plants are the fame as grow in
Sweden ; a proof of which I lliall produce
in the fequel.

The fand-reed * grows in abundance in
the fand, and prevents its being blown a-
bout by the wind.

The fea-lyme grafs -f likewife abounds
on the fliores. Both it and the preceding
plant are called Seigk de mer \ by the
French, I have been afiured that thefe
plants grow in great plenty in Newfound^
land, and on other North- American Oiores ;
the places covered with them looking, at

* Arundo arenaria Linn.
\ Elymus arenarius Linn,
X Sea-rye.

a dif-

Cap mix Oye's. 21 1

a diftance, like corn-fields ; which might
explain the paffage in our northern ac-
counts, of the excellent wine lcmd'^\ which
mentions, that they had found whole fields
of wheat growing wild.

The fea-fide plantain y is vtry frequent
on the iliore. The French boil its leaves
in a broth on their fea-voyages, or eat them
as a fallad. il may likewife be pickled like
famphire.

The bear-berries \ grow in great aban~
dance here. The Indians^ French, Fng-
liJJj, and Dutch, in thofe parts of North-
A?nerica^ which I have feen, call them Sa^
gackhomi, and mix the leaves with tobacco
for their ufe.

Gale, or fv/eet willow §, is likewife
abundant here. The French call it Lau-
rier, and iovn^ Poivrier. They put the
leaves into their broth, to give it apleafant
tafie.

The fea~rocket [j is, likevviftr, not un-

* Vinland dtt ^rduy or the good wine-land, is the name
ivhich the old Scandma<vian navigators gave to America,
which they difcovered long before Cditmbus. See Torf^i
fi'Jhria Vinlandia antiques f. partis America: fepten!ricnalis>
Hafnis 17 1 5, \to, and Mr. Geo'ge Wejim:iniis, A. M.
DiiTertation on that Subjed. Abo 1747. F.

f Plantago marititna Lmn.

X Arbutus uva urji Linn.

§ Myrica gale Linn.

H Buniai cakik Linn.

O 2 common.

21^ Sep f ember 1749.

common. Its root is pounded, mixed with
flour, and eaten here, when there is a
fcarcity of bread.

The fbrb-tree, or mountain-afh, the
cranberry-bufli, the j uniper-tree, the fea-fide
peafe, the Linnaa, and many other Swedijh
plants, are likevvife to be met with here.

We returned to bay St. Paul to-day. A
grey feal fwam behind the boat for fome
time, but was not near enough to be fliot
at.

September the 2d. This morning we
went to fee the filver or lead veins. They
ly a little on the fouth-fide of the mills,
belonging to the priefts. The mountain ia
which the veins ly, has the fame conftitu-
ent parts, as the other high grey rocks in
this place, viz. a rock-ftone compofed of a
whitifh or pale grey lime-ftone, a purple or
almcfl: garnet-coloured quartz, and a black
glimmer. The lime-ftone is in greater
quantities here than the other parts ; and
it is (o fine as to be hardly vifible. It ef-
fervefces very flrongly with aqua fortis.
The purple or garnet-coloured quartz is
next in quantity ; lies fcattered in exceed-
ing fmall grains, and flrikes fire when
ftruck with a fteel. The little black par-
ticles of glimmer follow next -, and laft of
all, the tranfparent cryftalline fpeckles of

quartz.

Bay St. Paul, 213

quartz. There are fome fmall grains of
fpar in the lime-ftone. All the different
kinds of ftone are very well mixed toge-
ther, except that the glimmer now and
then forms little veins and lines. The
ftone is very hard j but when expofed to
fun-{hine and the open air, it changes fo
much as to look quite rotten, and becomes
friable j and in that cafe, its conftituent
particles grow quite undiftinguifhable. The
mountain is quite full of perpendicular
clefts, in which the veins of leid-ore run
from E. S. E. to W. N. W. It feems
the mountain had formerly got cracks here,
which were afterwards filled up with a
kind of ftone, in which the lead-ore was
generated. That ftone which contains the
lead-ore is a foft, white, often femidiapha-
nous fpar, which works very eafily. In
it there are fometimes ftripes of a fnowy
white lime-ftone, and almoft always veins
of a green kind of ftone like quartz. This
fpar has many cracks, and divides into fuch
pieces as quartz ; but is much fofter^
never ftrikes fire with fteel, does not effer-
vcfce with acids, and is not fmooth to the
touch. It feems to be a fpecies of Mr,
Proteffor Wallerius s vitrefcent ijpar *.

* See Walknui's Mineralogy, Germ. cd. p. 87, Fotji^
Jntrod. to Mineralogy, p. 13.

O 3 Tiiere

214 September 1749.

There are fometimes fmall pieces of a
greyifli quartz in this fpar, which emit
ilrong rparks of lire, when ftruck with a
fteel. Jn thefe kinds of ftone the lead .ox.e
is lodged. Jt commonly lies in little lumps
pf the iize of peas -, but fometimes ia
fpecks of an inch fquare, or bigger. The
ore is very clear, and lies in little cubes*.
It isigenerally very poor, a few places ex-
cepted. The veins of foft fpar, and other
kinds of ftone, are very narrow, and com-
monly from ten to fifteen inches broad.
In a few places they are twenty inches
broad -, and in one iingle place twenty-
two and a half. The brook which inter-
iedls the mountain tov^/ards the mills, runs
down fo deep into the mountain, that the
?3i.ftance from the fummit of the hill, to
the bottom of the brook, is near twelve
yards. Here I examined the veins, and
found that they always keep the fame
breadth, not encreafmg near the bottom of
the brook; and likevvife, that they are no
licher below, than at the top. From hence
it m^y be eafily concluded, that it is not
worth while finking mines here. Of thefe
veins there are three or four in this neigh-
bourhood, at fome diftance from each other,

* It is a cidic lead orCf or had glance. Forjler's Introd.
fo Mineralogy, p. 51.

but

Bay St. Paul, 215

but all of the fame quality. The veins
are almoft perpendicular, fometimes devi-
ating a little. When pieces of the green
ilone before mentioned \y in the water, a
great deal of the adherent white fpar and
lime-ftoneis confumedj but the green flone
remains untouched. That part of the
veins which is turned towards the air is al-
ways very rough, becaufe the fun, air, and
rain, have mouldered a great part of the
fpar and lime-ftone ; but the green ftone
has refilled their attacks. They fometimes
find deep holes in thefe veins, filled with
mountain cryflals. The greatefl quantity
of lead or filver ore is to be found next to
the rock, or even on the fides of the vein.
There are now and then little grains of py-
rites in the fpar, which have a fine gold
colour. The green flone when pounded,
and put on a red-hot fliovel, burns with a
blue flame. Some fay, they can then ob-
ferve a fulphureous fmell, which I could
never perceive, though my fenfe of fmell-
ing is very perfe6l. When this green ftone
is grown quite red-hot, it lofes its green
colour, and acquires a whitifh one, but
will not effervefce with aquafortis.

The fulphureous fprings (if I may £q

call them) are at the foot of the mountain,

which contains the filver, or lead ore. Se-

O 4 veral

^i6 September 1749.

veral fprings join here, and form a little
brook. The water in thofe brooks is co-
vered with a white membrane, and leaves
a white, mealy matter on the trees, and
Other bodies in its way ; this matter has a
flrong fulphureous fmell. Trees, covered
with this mealy matter, when dried and
fet on fire, burn with a blue flame, and
emit a fmell of fulphur. The water does
not change by being mixed with gall-ap-
ples, nor does it change blue paper into a
jiifferent colour, which is put into it. It
makes no good lather with foap. Silver is
tarnifhed, and turns black, if kept in this
water for a little while. The blade of a
knife was turned quite black, after it had
Iain about three hours in it. It has a dif-
agreeable fmell, which, they fay, it fpreads
ilill more in rainy weather. A number
of grafshoppers were fallen into it at pre-
fent. The inhabitants ufed this water, as
a remedy againfl the itch.

In the afternoon we went to fee another
vein, which had been Ipoken of as filver
ore. It lies about a quarter of a mile to
the north-eafl: of bay St. Paidt near a point
of land called Cap au Corbeau, clofc to
the fhore of the river St. Lawrence, The
mountain in which thefe veins ly, conlift
pf a pale red vitrefcent fpar, a black glim-
mer,

Bay St. Paul. 2iy

mer, a pale lime-flone, purple or garnet-
coloured grains of quartz, and fome tran-
fparent quartz. Sometimes the reddifh vi-
trefcent ipar is the moil: abundant, and lies
in long ftripes of fmall hard grains. Some-
times the fine bbick glimmer abounds more
than the remaining conflituent parts; and
thefc two lad kinds of ftone generally run
in alternate ftripes. The white lime-ftone
which confifts of almoft invifible particles,
is mixed in among them. The garnet-
coloured quartz grains appear here and
there, and fometimes form whole ilrlpes.
They are as big as pin's heads, round,
ihining, and flrike fire with fleel. All
thefe ifones are very hard, and the moun-
tains near the fea, confift entirely of them.
They fometimes ly in almoft perpendicu-
lar flrata, of ten or fifteen inches thick-
nefs. The firata, however, point with
their upper ends to the north-weft, and go
upwards from the river, as if the water,
which is clofe to the fouth-eafh fide of
the mountains, had forced the ftrata to
lean on that fide. Thefe mountains con-
tain very narrov/ veins of a white, and
fometimes of a greenifh, fine, femidiapha-
nous, foft fpar, which crumbles eafily into
grains. In this fpar th' y very frequently
find fpecks, which look like a calamine

blend.

2 1 S September 1 74 '9 .

blend *. Now and then, and but very feU
donrs, there is a grain of lead-ore. The
mountains near the (hore confift fometimes
of a black fine-grained horn-ftone, and a
ferruginous lime-fione. The horn -ftone in
that cafe is always in three or four times as
great a quantity as the lime-done.

In this neighbourhood there is likewife
afulphureous fpring, having exadly the fame
qualities as that which 1 have before de-
Icribed. The broad-leaved Reed Mace-f
grows in the very fpring, and fucceeds ex-
tremely well. A mountain-aOi ftood near
it, whofe berries were of a pale yellow
fading colour, whereas on all other moun-
tain-aflies they have a deep red colour.

They make great quantities of tar at
bay St, Paid. We now pailed near a place
in which they burn tar, during fummer.
It is exadly the fame with ours in Eaji^
Bothnia, only fomewhat lefs -, though I
have been told, that there are fometimes
very great manufactures of it here. The
tar is made folely of the Pin rougel^, or
red Pine. All other firs, of which here
are feveral kinds, are not fit for this pur-

pofe,

* FcrJIer^s Introd. to Mineralogy, p. 50. Zincum fieri-
hm, Linn. Sylh Nat. III. p. 126. Ed. XII.

t Typha latifoLa, Linn.

X Pinus foliis geminis iongis ; ramis triplici fafcicul©
foliorum terminatis, conis ovatis lasvibus. Flbr. Canad,

Bay St. Pant. 219

pofe, becaufe they do not give tar enough
to repay the trouble the people are at.
They make ufe of the roots alone, which
are quite full of refm, and which they dig
out of the ground ; and of about two yards
of the riem, juft above the root, laying
afide all the reft. They have not yet learnt
the art of drawing the refin to one iide of
the tree, by peeling off the bark; at leaft
they never take this iTiethod. The tar-
barrels are but about half the fize of ours.
A ton holds forty-fix pots, and fells at pre-
fent for tv^ zniy -^vtfrajics at ^lehec. The
tar is reckoned pretty good.

The fand on the fliore of the river St.
Lawrence^ confifts in fome places of a kind
of pearlrfand. The grains are of quartz,
fmall and femidiaphanous. In fome places
it confifis of little particles of glimmer ;
and there are like wife fpots, covered with
the garnet-coloured fand, which I have be-
jToredefcribed, and which abounds in Canada,

September the 4th. The mountains
hereabouts were covered with a very thick
fog to-day, refembling the fmoak of a char-
coal kiln. Many of thefe mountains are very
high. During my ftay in Canada, 1 afked
many people, who have travelled much in
North- America, whether they ever met
with mountains fo high, that the fnow
never melts on them in winter i to which

they

22 o September 1749.

they always anfwered in the negative.
They fay that the Tnow fometimes flays
on the highefl, 'viz. on fome of thofe be-
tween Canada and the EngHJh colonies,
during a great part of the fummer ; but
that it melts as foon as the great heat be-
gins.

Every countryman fbws as much flax
as he wants for his own ufe. They had
already taken it up fome time agOy and
Ipread it on the held?, meadows, and
paftureSjin order to bleach it. It was very
ihoft this year in Canada.

They find iron -ore in feveral places
bereabouts. Almoft a SwediJJj mile from
bay St. Paul, up in the country, there is
a whole mountain full of iron ore. The
country round it is covered with a thick
foreft, and has many rivulets of different
lizes, which feem to make the ered;ion of
iron-works very eafy here. But the go-
vernment having as yet fufFered very much
by the iron-works at Trois Rivieres^ no-
body ventures to propofe any thing further
in that way.

Septe?}2ber the 5th. Early this morn-
ing vi'e let out on our return to ^lebec.
We continued our journey at noon, not-
withilanding the heavy rain and thunder
we got afterwards. At that time we were

juft

Petite Riviere. 22 1

juft at Petite Riviere, and the tide begin-
ning to ebb, it was impoffible for us to
come up againft it ; therefore we lay by
here, and went on fhore.

Petite Riviere is a httle village, on the
weftern fide of the river Sr, Lawrence,
and Hes on a little rivulet, from whence
it takes its name. The houfcs are built
of flone, and are difperfed over the coun-
try. Here is likewife a fine little church
of ftone. To the weft of the village are
fome very high mountains, which caufe
the fun to fet three or four hours fooner
here, than ordinary. The river St. Law-
rence annually cuts off a piece 'of land,
on the eafl fide of the village, fo that the
inhabitants fear they will in a (hort timd
lofe all the land they pofTcfs here, which
at moft is but a tijufket fhot broad. All
the houfes here are very full of children.

The lime-flates on the hills are of two
kinds. One is a black one, which I have
often mentioned, and on which the town
of ^lebec is built. The other is generally
black, and fometimes dark grey, and feems
to be a fpecies of the former. It is called
Pierre a chaux here. It is chiefly diflin-
guifhed from the former, by being cut
very eafily, giving a very white lime, when
burnt, and not eafily mouldering into fhi-

vers

222 September 1749.

vers in the air. The walls of the houfes
here are entirely made of this Hate ; and
likewife the chimnies, thofe places except-
ed, which are expofed to the greateft fircj
where they place pieces of grey rock-flone,
mixed with a deal of glimmer. The
mountains near Petite Riviere confifl
merely of a grey rock-ftone, which is en-
tirely the fame with that which I defcrib-
ed near the lead-mines of bay St. Paid.
The foot of thefe mountains confiils of one
of the lime-Hate kinds. A great part of
the Canada mountains of grey rock-ftone
iland on a kind of (late, in the fame man-
ner as the grey rocks of Weji-Gothland'wi
Sweden.

September the 6th. They catch eels
and porpeffes here, at a certain feafon of
the year, viz. at the end of Septe772ber^ and
during the whole month of OSlober. The
eels come up the river at that time, and
are caught in the manner I have before
defcribed. They are followed by the por*
peiTes, which feed upon them. The greater
the quantity of eels is, the greater is like-
wife the . number of porpeffes, which are
caught in the following manner. When
the tide ebbs in the river, the porpeffes
commonly go down along the fides ot the
river, catching the eels which they find
4 there*

Petite Riviere. 223

there. The Inhabitants of this place there-
fore flick little twigs, or branches with
leaves, into the river, in a curve line or
arch, the ends of which look towards the
fhore, but (land at fome diftance from it,
leaving a paffage there. The branches
fland about two feet didant from each
other. When the porpeifes come amongft
them, and perceive the ruflling the water
makes with the leaves, they dare not ven-
ture to proceed, fearing lefl there (hould
be a fnare, or trap, and endeavour to go
back. Mean while the water has reced-
ed fo much, that in going back they light
upon one of the ends of the arch, whofe
moving leaves frighten them again. In
this confufion they fwim backwards and
forwards, till the water is entirely ebbed
off, and they ly on the bottom, where
the inhabitants kill them. They give a
great quantity of train-oil.

Near the (liore, is a grey clay, full of
ferruginous cracks, and pierced by worms.
The holes are fmall, perpendicular, and
big enough to admit a middling pin. Their
fides are likewife ferruginous, and half-
petrified J and where the clay has been
wafhed away by the water, the refl looks
like ocker-coloured flumps of tobacco-pipe
tubes.

At

224 September 1749.

At noon we left Fet'ite Riviere, and
continued our journey towards St. Jcachi??j6

Between Petite Riviere, which lies in
a little bay, and St. Joachim, the weftern
Ihore of the river St. Lawrence coniifts of
prominent mountains, between which there
are feveral fmall bays. They have found,
by long experience, that there is always a
wind on thefe mountains, even when it is,
calm at Petite Riviere. And when the
wind is pretty high at the laft-mentioned
place, it is not advifeable to go to ^ebec in
a boat, the wind and waves, in that cafe,
being very high near thefe mountains. We
had at prefent an opportunity of experien-
cing it. In the creeks between the moun-
tains, the water was almofl: quite fmooth ;
but on our coming near one of the points
formed by the high mountains, the waves
encreafed, and the wind was fo high, that
two people were forced to take care of the
helm, and the maft broke feveral times*
The waves are likewife greatly encreafed
by the ftrong current near thofe points or
capes.

September the 7th. A little before
noon, we continued our voyage from St.
Joachim.

They employ tree-mufhrooms very fre-
quently inftead of tinder. Thofe which

are

Between Petite Riiiiere and ^ebec, ii2§

are taken from the fugar-maple are reckon-
ed the beft j thofe of the red maple are
liext in goodrlefs -, and next to them^ thofe
of the fugar-bireh. For want of thefe,
they likewife make ufe of thofe which grow
on the afp-tree or tremble.

There are no other ever-green trees In
this part of Canada, than the thuya, the
yew, and fome of the fir kind.

The thuya is efteemed for refifting pu-
trefadion much longer than any other
wood J and next in goodnefs to it is the
pine, called ^^-n^*? here.

They make cheefe in feveral places here-
abouts. That of the ifle of Orleans is,
however, reckoned the bell. This kind is
fmall, thin, and round j and four of them
weigh about a French pounds Twelve of
them fell for thirty fols. A pound of fait
butter cofls ten fols at ^ebec, and of frefh
butter, fifteen fols. Formerly, they could
get a pound of butter for four fols here.

The corn-fields towards the river are
flopingj they are fufFered to ly fallow and to
be fown alternately. Thefown ones looked
yellow at this diftance, and the fallow ones
green. The weeds are left on the latter all
fummer, for the cattle to feed upon.

The afli wood furnifhes the bed hoops
for tuns here ; and for want of it, they take

VojL. IIL P the

226 September 1749.

the thuya, little birch-trees, wild cherry-
trees, and others.

The hills near the river, on the weftern
lide, oppofite the ille of Orleans^ are very,
high and pretty fteep. They coniift, in moft
part, of black iime-flate. There are likewife
fome fpots which conlift of a rock-ftone,
which, at firfi: fight, looks like a fand-ftone,
and is compofed of grey quartz, a reddifli
lime-ftone, a little grey lime-ftone, and
fome pale grey grains of fand. Thefe parts
of the ftone are fmall and pretty equally
mixed with each other. The ftone looks
red, with a greyifh caff, and is very hard.
It lies in flrata, one above another. The
thicknefs of each ftratum is about jfive
inches. It is remarkable, that there are
both elevated and hollow impreflions of
pedinites on the furface, where one like-
wile meets with the petrified fhells them-
feives ', but on breaking the ftone, it does
not even contain the leaft veflige of an im-
preffion or petrified fhell. All the impref-
fions are fmall, about the length and
breadth of an inch. The particles of
quartz in the ftone ftrike fire with fleel,
and the particles of lime-flone efFer-
vef-c ftrongly with aqiia-fortis. The upper
and lower furfaces of the ftrata confiff of
lime-ftone, and the inner parts of quartz.
They break great quantities of this ftone
4 ia

Montmorencii, iij

111 order to build houfes-of it, pave floors
with it, and make flair-cafes of it. Great
qu an 11 lies of it are fent to ^lehcc. It is re-
markable, that there are petrefac^^ons in this
fco.je, but never any in the black lime-
flates

The women dye their woollen yarn yel=
low with feeds of gale,* which is called
pQpvr'ier herCj and grows abundant in wet
places.

This evening, M. Gaulthier and I went
to fee the water-fall at Montmorenci. The
country near the river is high and \^v^\,
and laid out into nieadov/s. Above them
the high and fteep hills begin, which are
covered with a cruil- of mould, and turned
into corn-fields. In fome very fteep places,
and near the rivulets, the hills confifl of
mere black lime-flate, which is often crum-
bled into fmall pieces, like earth. All the
fields below the hills are full of fuch pieces
of lime-flate. When fome of the larger
pieces are broken, they fmell like flink-
llone. In fome more elevated places, the
earth confifls of a pale red colour; and the
lime-flates are likewife reddifh.

TiiE water-fill near Montmorenci is one
of the highcfl: 1 ever faw. It is in a river

* Mjr'.ca gale. Linn.

F 2 whofe

228 September 1749.

whofe breadth is not very confiderable, and
falls over the fleep fide of a hill, confifting
entirely of black lime-flate. The fall is
now at the bottom of a little creek of the
river. Both fides of the creek confift mere-
ly of black lime-flate, which is very much
cracked and tumbled down. The hill of
lime-flate under the water-fall is quite per-
pendicular, and one cannot look at it with-
out aflonifliment. The rain of the prece-
ding days had encreafed the water in the
river, which gave the fall a grander appear-
ance. The breadth of the fall is not above
ten or twelve yards. Its perpendicular height
Mr. Gault flier and I guefled to be between
a hundred and ten and a hundred and twen-
ty feet ', and on our return to ^ebec, wc
found our gueis confirmed by fevcral gen-
tlemen, who had adtually meafured the fall,
and found it to be nearly as we had conjec-
tured. The people who live in the neigh-
bourhood exaggerate in their accounts of it,
ablblutely declaring that it is three hundred
feet high. Father Charlevoix -^ is too fparing
in giving it only forty feet in height. At
the bottom of the fall, there is always a
thick fog of vapours, fpreading about the
water, being refolved into them by its vio-

t See his Hijleirs de la Nowu, France, torn. v. p. m. ico.

len^

Montmorencu 229

lent falL This fog occafions almoft perpc-
tual rain here, which is more or lefs heavy,
in proportion to its diftance from the fall.
Mr. Gaulthier and myfelf, together with
the man who fhewed us the way, were wil-
ling to come nearer to the falling water, in
order to examine more accurately how it
came down from fuch a height, and how
the ftone behiad the water looked. But,
being about twelve yards off the fall, a
fudden guft of wind blew a thick fog upon
us, which, in lefs than a minute, had wet
us as thoroughly as if we had walked for
half an hour in a heavy (hower. We there-
fore hurried away as faft as we could, and
were glad to get off. The noife of the fall
is fometimes heard at ^ebec, which is two
French miles off to the fouthward ; and this
is a iign of a north-eaft wind. At other
times, it can be well heard in the villages, a
good way lower to the north ; and it is then
reckoned an undoubted fign of a fouth-weft
wind, or of rain. The black lime-flate on
the fides of the fall lies in dipping, and al-
moft perpendicular ftrata. In thefe lime-
ilate ftrata, are the following kinds of ftone
to be met with.

Fibrous gypfum,^ This lies in very thin

• Gypfum amiantiforme. Waller. Miti. Germ. ed. p. 74,
fibroui or radiated gypfum., Forji. Introd, ta Mineralogy, p. ip,

P 3 leaves

2 3© September ly^^g.

leaves between the cracks of the llme-flatc,
Its colour is a fr-owy white. I have found
it in feveral parts of Ca?2ada, in the fame
black lirne-ftone.

Pierre a Calumet. This is the French
name of a frcjie difpofed in ilrata between
the lime (late, and of which they make al-
moft all the tobacco-pipe heads in thecoun-
iry. The thicknefs of the ilrata is diffe-
rent. 1 have feen pieces near fifteen inches
thicks but they are commonly between
four and ii'^Q inches thi^k. When the
ftone is long expofed to the open air or heat
of the fun, it gets a yellow colour j but in
the infide it is grey. It is a lime-ftone of
fuch a compadnefs, that its particles are
not diftingoifhable by the naked eye. It is
pretty foft, and will bear cutting with a
knife. From this quality, the people like-
%^ife judge of the goodnefs of the iPione for
tobacco-pipe heads ; for the hard pieces of
it are not fo fit for ufe as the fofter ones. I
have feen fome of thefe flones fhivering in-
to thin leaves on the outfide where they were
expofed to the fun. All the tobacco-pipe
heac's, which the common people in Canada
make ufe of, are made of this flone, and
are ornamented in different ways. A great
part of the gentry likcwife make u(e of
them, efpecially when they are on a journey.

The

Montmorencu

231

The Indians have employed this ftone for
the fame purpofes for feveral ages pad, and
have taught it the Europeans, The heads
of the tobacco-pipes are naturally of a pale
grey colour 3 but they are blackened whilfl
they are quite new, to make them look
better. They cover the head all over with
greafe, and hold it over a burning candle, or
any other fire, by which means it gets a
good black colour, which is encreafed by-
frequent ufe. The tubes of the pipes are
always made of wood-f-.

There are no coals near this fall, or in
the fteep hills clofe to it. However, the
people in the neighbouring village {hewed
me a piece of coal, which, they faid, they
had found on one of the hills about the
fall.

We arrived at S^uebec very late at night.
• September the 8th. Intermitting fe-
vers of all kinds are very rare at ^lebec, as
Mr. Gaiilthier affirms. On the contrary,

f AH over Voland, RitJJta, Turky, and Tartaryy they fmoke
out of pipes made of a kind of ftone marie, to which ihey
fix long wooden tubes ; for which latter purpofe, they com-
inonly employ the young flioots of the various kinds of Jpi-
raa, which have a kind of pith eafily to be thiull out.
The ftone-marle is called generally fe;-icum, being pre-tty
foft; and by the Tartan, in C ima, it is called kffkil.
And as it cuts fo eafily, various fi<- ui cs are curioufly carved in
it, when it is worked into pipe-heads, . which often are
joounted with iilver. F.

P 4 they

«32 September 1749.

they are very common near Fort St. Frede-
ric, and near Fort Detroit, which is a
Fre?2ch colony, between lake Erie and
lake Huron, in forty- three degrees north
latitude.

Some of the people of quality make ufc
of ice-cellars, to keep beer cool in, during
fammer, and to keep frefh fiefli, which
would not keep long in the great heat.
Thefe ice-cellars are commonly built of
ftone, under the houfe. The walls of ilL
are covered with boards, becaufe the ice is
more ealily confumed by ftones. In winter,
they fill it with fnow, which is beat down
with the feet, and covered with water.
They then open the cellar holes and the
door, to admit the cold. It is cuftomary
in fummer to put a piece of ice into the
water or wine which is to be drank.

All the fait which is made ufe of here,
is imported from France. They likewife
make good fait here of the fea water; but
France keeping the fait trade entirely to iU
felf, they do not go on with it here.

The Efquimaux are a particular kind of
American favages, who live only near the
water, and never far in the country, on
^erra Labrador, between the moft outward
point of the rbouth of the river St. La%Vv
rence and Hudfons bay, I have never had

an opportunity of feeing one of them. I
have fpoken with many Frenchmeii who
have feen them, and had them on board
their own vefTcls. I ftiall here give a brief
hiftory of them, according to their unani-
mous accounts.

The EJquimaux are entirely different
from the Indians of North- America, in re-
gard to their complexion and iheir language.
They are almofl as white as Europeans, and
have little eyes : the men have likewife
beards. The Indians, on the contrary, are
copper-coloured, and the men have no
beards. The Efqiiimaux language is faid to
contain fome European word:-.t Their
houfes are either caverns or clefts in the
mountains, or huts of turf above ground.
They never fow or plant vegetables, living
chiefly on various kinds of whales, on feals,*
and walruflesj. Sometimes they likewife

+ The Mora'vian brethren in Greenland, coming once over
with fome Grernlar.ders to Te> ra Labiadcr, the Ejquimaux ran
away at their appearance ; but they ordered one of their
Gnenlanders to call them back in his language. The Efqui-
tnaux hearing his voice, and underltanding the language, im-
mediately flopped, came back, and were glad to find a coun-
tryman, and wherever they went, among che other Efquimaux,
they gave out, chat one of their brethren was returned. This
proves the Ejquimaux to be of a tribe different from any
Efuropean nation, as the Grii-^z/flW language has no fimilarity
yvith any language in Europe. F.

* Pboca -vitulina. Linn,

1 Trichechus rojmcfrus. L'|)a.

catch

234 September 1749.

catch land animals, on which they ?eed.
They eat mod of their meat quite raw.
Their drink is water ; and people have like-
wife feen them drinking the fea water,
which was like brine.

Their fLoes, ftockings, breeches, and
JAcke^l are made of feal-fkins well prepared,
and k ved together with nerves of whales,
which m?.y be twifted like threads and are
very tough. Their cloaths, the hairy fide
of which is turned outwards, are fewed to-
gether fo well, that they can go up to their
fhoulders in the water without wetting
their under cloaths. Under their upper
cloaths, they wear fliirts and waiftcoats
made of feals iliins, prepared fo well as to
be quite foft. I faw one of their womens
dreffes ; a cap, a waiftcoat, and coat, made
all of one piece of feals fkin well prepared,
foft to the touch, and the hair on the out-
fide. Their is a long train behind at their
coats, which fcarce reach them to the
middle of the thigh before ^ under it they
wear breeches and boots, all of one piece.
The (hirt I faw was likewife made of
a very foft feals fkin. The Efqimiaux wo-
men are faid to be handfomer than any of
the American Indian women, and their huf-
bands are accordingly more jealous in pro-
portion.

I HAVE

§luehec. 235

I HAVE likewlfe feen an Efqiilmaux boat.
The outfide of it confifts entirely of ikins,
the hair of which has been taken off j and
the fides of the fkins on which they were^
inferted are turned outwards, and feel as
fmcoth as vellum. The boat was near four-
teen feet long, but very narrow, ai i very
fharp pointed at the extremities- In the
iniide of the boat, they place two or three
thin boards, which give a kind of form to the
boat. It is quite covered with fkins at the
top, excepting, near one end, a hole big
enough for a fmgle perfon to fit and row in,
and keep his thighs and legs under the deck.
The figure of the hole refembles a femi-cir-
cle, the bafe or diameter of which is turned
towards the larger end of the boat. The
hole is furrounded with wood, on which a
foft folded fkin is faftened, with flraps at
its upper end. When the 'Efqiimaux makes
ufe of his boat, he puts his legs and thighs
under the deck, fits down at the bottom of
the boat, draws the fkin before mentioned
round his body, and faftens it well with the
flraps ; the waves may then beat over his
boat with confiderable violence, and not a
fingle drop comes into it ; the cloaths of
the Efquimaux keep the wet from him.
He has an oar in his hand, which has a
paddle at each end ; it ferves him for

236 September 1749.

rowing with, and keeping the boat in equi-
librium during a ftorm. The paddles of
the oar are very narrow. The boat will
contain but a fingle perfon. Efquimaux
have often been found fafe in their boats
many miles from land, in violent florms,
where fliips found it difficult to fave them-
felves. Their boats float on the waves like
bladders, and they row them with incredi-
ble velocity. I am told, they have boats
of different fhapes. They have likewife
larger boats of wood, covered with leather
in which feveral people may fit, and in
which their women commonly go to fea.

Bows and arrows, javelins and harpoons,
are their arms. With the laft they kill
whales, and other large marine animals.
The points of their arrows and harpoons
are fometimes made of iron, fometimes of
bone, and fometimes of the teeih of the
walrufs. Their quivers are made of feals
fkins. The needles with which they fow
their cloaths are likewife made of iron or
of bone. All their iron they get by fome
means or other from the Europeans.

They fometimes go on board the Euro^
pean (hips in order to exchange fome of
their goods for knives and other iron. But
it is not advifeable for Europeans to go on
Hiore, unlefs they be numerous j for the

Quebec, 237

Efquimaux are falfe and treacherous, and
cannot /ufFer Grangers amongft them. If
they find themfelves too weak, they run
away at the approach of ftrangers j but if
they think they are an over-match for them,
they kill all that come in their way, with-
out leaving a fingle one alive. The Kuro-
peansy therefore, do not venture to let a
greater numh^v o^ Efquimaux come on board
their fhips than they can eafily mafter. If
they are fhip-wrecked on the Efquimaux
coafts, they may as well be drowned in the
fea as come fafe to the fliore : this many
Europeans have experienced. The Euro-
pean boats and fliips which the Efquimaux
get into their power, are immediately cut
in pieces and robbed of all their naiJs and
other iron, which they work into knives,
needles, arrow-heads, &c. They make ufc
of fire for no other purpofes but working of
iron, and preparing the fkins of animals.
Their meat is eaten all raw. When they come
on board an European (hip, and are offered
fome of the failurs meat, they never will
tafte of it till they have fecn fome Europeaiis
eat it. Though nothing pleafed other fa-
vage nations fo much as brandy, yet many
Frenchmen have afiured me, 'that they never
could prevail on the Efquimaux to take a
dram of it. Their millrull of other nations

is

238 September 1749.'

the caufe of it; for they undoubtedly ima-
gine, that they are going to poifon them^
or do them fome hurt ; and I am not cer-
tain, whether they do not judge right.
They have no ear-rings, and do not paint
the face like the American Indians. For
many centuries pail, they have had dogs,
whofe ears are ere'fled, and never hang
down. They make ufe of them for hunt-
ing, and inftead of horfes in winter, for
drawing their goods on the ice. They
themfelves fometimes ride in fledges drawn
by dogs. They have no other domeftic ani-
mal. There are, indeed, plenty of rein-
deer in their country ; but it is not known^
that either the Efquimatix, or any of the//z-
dians in America^ have ever tamed them-
ThQ French in Canada, who are in a man-
ner the na ghhom s oi ihc Efqiiimaux, have
taken a deal of pains to carry on fome kind
of trade with them, and to endeavour to
engage them to a more friendly intercourfe
with other nations. For that purpofe,
they took fome Efquimaux children, taught
them to read, and educated them in the
beft manner poflible. The intention of the
French was, to fend ihefe children to the
Efqtiimaux again, that they might inform
them of the kind treatment the French had
given them, and thereby inchne them to

Gon-*

^ebec. 239

conceive a better opinion of the French,
But unhappily all the children died of the
fmall-pox, and the fcheme was dropt.
Many perfons in Canada doubted, whe-
ther the fcheme would have fucceeded,
though the children had been kept alive.
For they fay, there was formerly an Efqui-
maux taken by the French, and brought to
Canada^ where he iVaid a good while, and
was treated with great civility. He learnt
French pretty well, and feemed to reli(h
the French way of living very well. When
he was fent back to his countrymen, he
was not able to make the leafl impreffioa
on them, in favour of the French j but
was killed by his nearefl relations, as half
a Frenchma7i and loreigner. This inhu-
man proceeding of the Efqidmaux againfi:
all Grangers, is the reafon why none of the
Indians of North America ever give quarter
to the Efqidmaux if they meet with them,
but kill them on the fp:t ; though they
frequently pardon their other enemies, and
incorporate the priloners into their nation.
For the ufe of thofe, who are fond of
comparing the languages of feveral nations,
I have here infcrted a few Efquimaux words,
communicated to me by the Jefuit Sai?it
Pie. One, komhuc ; two, tiga/ -, three,
ke-, four, mi//i/agaf ; water, ////jM/c j rain,

Wa-

^4^ Be ff ember 1749.

klUaluck \ fieaven, taktiick^ or nahtigakJJje j
the ^inn^ Jhikonak^ or fakaknuk -, the moon,
takock ; an egg, manneguk ; the boat, ka*
gack'y the oar, pacotick-, the knife, JJmvie %
a dog, mekke^ or timilok ; the bow, petik-
Jick ; an arrow, /'^z//? ; the head, ntakock i
the ear, ^c/?/« j the eye, kilUky or y^//^ j the
hair, nutjhad -, a tooth, ukak -, the foot,
itikat. Some think thai they are nearly
the fame nation with the GreenlandefSy or
Skralingers i and pretend that there is a
great affinity in the language *.

Plumb-trees of difFerentforts, brought
over from France^ fucceed very well here.
The prefent year they did not begin t6
flower till this month. Some of them
looked very well ; and I am told the win*
ter does not hurt them.

September the nth. The marquis^;?
la Galiffonniere is one of the three noble-
men, who, above all others, have gained
high efteem with the French admiralty in
the lafi: war. They are the marquifies de
la Galijfonnicrey de la Jonquiere, and de I'E^

* The above account of the E/c/uimanx may becompared
with Henry Ellis^s Jcc:unt of a Foyoge to Hud/oil's Bay, by
th: Dobbi Ga ley and California, &c. and The Account of a
Voyage Jor the Dfco'very of a North Wiji Pafage by Hudjon'i
Sti,ights, by the Clerk of the CaUfornia. 7aoo Foh- Stjo.
And iaftly, with CraNt%'i Hiforj of Greenland. T%vo Vols.
%vo. F.

tendne.

^ebec. 241

Undure. The fird of thefe was now above
fifty years of age, of a low ftature, and
fomewhat hump-backed, but of a very a-
greeable look. He had been here for foms
time as governor-general -, and was going
back to France one day this month. I
have already mentioned fomething concern-
ing this nobleman ; but when I think of
his many great qualities, I can never give
him a fufficient encomium. He has a fur-
prizing knowledge in all branches of fci-
ence, and efpecially in natural hiftory; in
which he is fo well verfed, that when he
began to fjpeak with me about it, I ima-
gined I faw our great Ltijinceus under a new
form. When he fpoke of the ufe of na-
tural hiftory, of the method of learning,
and employing it to raife the ftate of a
country, I was aPtonirhed to fee him take
his reafons from politics, as well as natu-
ral philofophy, mathematics, and other
fciences. I own, that my converfation
with ti.is nobleman was very indrudtive to
me 5 and I always drew a deal of ufeful
knowledge from it. He told me feveral
ways of employing natural hiftory to the
purpofes of politics, and to make a coun-
try powerful, in order to deprefs its envious
neighbours. Never has natural hiftory had
a greater promoter in this country ; and it
Vol. III. Q_ is

24-2 September 1749*

is very doubtful whether it will ever have
his equal here. As foon as he got the place
of governor-general, he began to take thofe
meafures for getting information in natural
hiftory, which I have mentioned before.
When he faw people, who had for fome
time been in a fettled place of the country,
efpecially in the more remote parts, or had
travelled in thofe parts, he always quef-
tioned ihem about the trees, plants, earths,
flones, ores, animals, &;c. of the place. He
iikewife enquired what ufe the inhabitants
made of theie things ; in what liate their
hufbandry was ; what lakes, rivers, and
paflages there ate; and a number of other
particulars. Thofe who feemed to have
clearer notions than the reft, Vv^ere obliged
to give him circumftantial defrriptions of
what they had feen. He himfeif w^ote
down all the accounts he received ; and by
this great application, fo uncommon among
perfons of his rank, he foon acquired a
knowledge of the moft diftant parts of
America. The priefts, commandants of
forts, and of feveral diftant places, are of-
ten furprized by his queftions, and wonder
at his knowledge, when they come to ^e-
bee to pay their vifits to him ; for he often
tells them that near iuch a mountain, or on
fuch a fhore, &c. where they often went a

hunting,
6

^ebec. 243

hunting, there are fome particular plants,
trees, earths, ores, &c. for he had got a
knowledge of thofe things before. From
hence it happened, that fome of the inha-
bitants believed he had a preternatural
knowledge of things, as he was able to
mention all the curiofities of places, fome-
times near two hundred Swedtjh miles from
^ebec, though he never was there himfelf.
Never was there a better ftatefman than he ;
and nobody can take better meafures, and
choofe more proper means for improving a
country, and encreafing its welfare. Ca-
nada was hardly acquainted with the trea-
fure it pofTefTed in the perfon of this no-
bleman, when it loft him again ; the king
wanted his fervices at home, and could not
leave him fo far off. He was going to
France with a collection of natural curio-
flties; and a quantity of young trees and
plants, in boxes full of earth.

The black lime-flate has been repeatedly
mentioned during the courfe of my jour-
ney» I will here give a more minute de-
tail of it. The mountain on which ^e~
bee is built, and the hills along the river St.
Lawrence, coniift of it for fome miles to-
gether, on both fides of ^lebec. About a
yard from the furface, this ftone is quite
compad:, and without any cracks ; fo that
0^2 one

^44 September 1749.

one cannot perceive that it Is a flate, itg
particles being imperceptible. It lies in
ilrata, which vary from three or four
inches, to twenty thick, and upwards. In
the mountains on which ^ebec is built,
the flrata do not ly horizontal, but dipping,
fo as to be nearly perpendicular j the upper
ends pointing north-weft, and the lower
ones ibuth-eaft. From hence it is, that
the corners of thefe ftrata always ftrikeout
at the furface into the ftreets, and cut
the {hoes in pieces. I have likewife feen
fome ftrata, inclining to the northward,
but nearly perpendicular as the former.
Horizontal ftrata, or nearly fuch, have oc-
curred to me too. The flrata are divided
by narrow cracks, which are commonly
filled with fibrous whire gypfum, which
can fometimes be got loofe with a knife, if
the layer or ftratum of flate above it is
broken in pieces; and in that cafe it has
the appearance of a thin white leaf The
larger cracks are almoft filled up with tranf-
parent quartz cryflals, of different fizes.
One part of the mountain contains vafc
quantities of thefe cryfi.ds, fsom which the
corner of the mountain vv'hich lies to the
S. S. E. of the palace, has got the name
of Tointe de T>iamante^ or Diamond Point.
The fmall cracks which divide the Hone,

go

^lehec, 245

go generally at right angles ; the diftances
between them are not always equal. The
outfide of the ftrauim, or that which is
turned towards the other flratum, is fre-
quently covered with a fine, black, fhining
membrane, which looks like a kind of a
pyrous horn-ftone. In it there is feme-
times a yellow pyrites, always lying in
fmall grains. I never found petrefadtions
or impreffions, or other kinds of ftone in
it, befides thofe I have juft mentioned.
The whole mountain on which Quebec
is iituated, confifts entirely of lime-llate
from top to bottom. When this ftone is
broken, or fcraped with a knife, it gives a
ftrong fmell like the ftink-flone. That
part of the mountain which is expofed to
the open air, crumbles into fmall pieces,
had loft their black colour, and got a pale
red one in its (lead. Almoft all the public
and private buildings at ^ebec confift of
this lime-Hate ; and likewife the walls
round the town, and round the monafteries
and gardens. It is eafily broken, and cut
to the fize wanted. But it has the pro-
perty of fplitting into thin fliivers, parallel
to the furface of the flratum from v/hence
they are taken, after lying during one or
niore years in the air, and expofed to the
fun. However, this quality does no da-
Q.3 ^^^^^^s

2^6 September 1749.

mage to the walls in which they are placed 5
for the ftones being laid on purpofe into
fuch a pofition that the cracks always run
horizontally, the upper flones prefs fo much
upon the lower ones, that they can only
get cracks outwardly, and (hiver only on
the outfide, without going further inwards.
The (hivers always grow thinner, as the
houfes grow older.

In order to give my readers fome idea of
the climate of ^ebec, and of the different
changes of heat and cold, at the feveral
feafons of the year, I will here infert fome
particulars extraded from the meteorologi-
cal obfervations, of the royal phyfician, Mr.
Gaulthier : he gave me a copy of thofe
which he had made from OBober 1744, tQ
the end of September 1746. The ther-
mometrical obfervations I will omit, be-
caufe I do not think them accurate ; for as
Mr. Gaulthier made ufe of de la Hire'^
thermometer, the degrees of cold cannot
be exadly determined, the quickfilver be-
ing depreffed into the globe at the bottom,
as foon as the cold begins to be coniider-
able. The obfervations are made through-
out the year, between feven and eight in
the morning, and two and three in the af-
ternoon. He has feldom made any obfer-
vations in the afternoon. His thermome-
ter

ter was likewlfe inaccurate, by being placed
in a bad fituation.

The year 1745.

January. The 29th of this month the
river St. Lawre?ice was covered over with
ice, near Quebec. In the obfervations of
other years, it is obferved, that the river
is fometimes covered with ice in the be-
ginning of January, or the end of Decem-
ber.

February. Nothing remarkable hap-
pend during the courfe of this month.

March. They fay this has been the
mildeft winter they ever felt ; even the
eldefl; perfons could not remember one fo
mild. The fnow was only two feet deep,
and the ice in the river, oppofite ^ebec,
had the fame thicknefs. On the twenty-
firft there was a thunder-ftorm, which fell
upon a foldier, and hurt him very much.
On the iQth and 20th, they began to make
incifions into the fugar-maple, and to pre-
pare fugar from its juice.

April. During this month they con-
tinued to extrad the juice of the fugar-
maple, for making fugar. On the 7th
the gardeners began to make hot-beds.
On the 20th the ice in the river broke
loofe near ^lebec, and went down ; which
rarely happens fo foon j for the river Sf,
Q^ 4 LaiV'

24^ September 1749.

Lawrence is fometlmes covered with ice
oppolite ^lebec, on the loth of May. On
the 22d, and 23d, there fell a quantity of
fnow. On the 25 th they began to fow
near St. 'Joachim. The fame day they faw
feme fwallows. The 29th they fowed corn
all over the country. Ever fince the 23d
the river had been clear at ^lebec.

May. The third of this month the
cold was fo great in the morning, that
Celjius\, or the Swedijh thermometer, was
four degrees below the freezing point -,
however, it did not hurt the corn. On
the 1 6th all the fummer-corn was fown.
On the 5th the Sangiii?iaria, Narcijfus, and
violet, began to blow. The 17th the wild
cherry-trees, rafoerry-buflies, apple-tree?,
and lime-trees, began to expand their leaves.
The ftrawbcrries were in flower about that
time. The 29th the wild cherry-trees
were in bloirom. On the 26th part of
the French apple-trees, cherry-trees, and
plum-trees, opened their flowers.

June. The 5th of this month all the
trees had got leaveSc The apple-trees were
in fnll flower. Ripe ftraw-berries were to
be had on the 22d. Here it is noted, that
the weather was very fine for the growth
of vegetables.

Jvly. The corn began to flioot into
ears on the 12th, and had ears every where

on

^lebec. 249

on the 2 1 11:. (It is to be obferved, that
they fow nothing but fuminer-corn here.)
Soon after the corn began to flower. Kay-
making began the 22d. All this n;onth
the weather was excellent.

Augiift. OxM the 12th there were ripe
pears and melcns at Montreal. On the
20th the corn was ripe round Montreal^
and the harveft was begun there. On the
2 2d the harveft began at Quebec. On the
3cth5 and 31ft, there was a very fmall
hoar-frofl on the ground.

September. The harveft of all kinds of
corn ended on the 24th, and 25i:h. Me-
lons, v/ater-melons, cucumbers, and fine
plums, were very plentiful during the
courfe of this month. Apples and pears
were like wife ripe, which is not always
the cafe. On the lall; days of this month
they began to plough the land. The fol-
lowing is one of the obfervations of this
month : " The old people in this country
** fay, that the corn was formerly never
" ripe till the 15th, or i6th, oi September^
*' and fometimes on the 12th ; but no
*' fooner. They likewife aficrt, that it
" never was perfecftly ripe. Yj^m fince the
*' woods have been fufficiently cleared, the
** beams of the fun have had more room
** to operate, and the corn ripens fooner

'* than

250 Septemher iy4g.

" than before *." It is further remarked^
that the hot fummers are always very fruit-
ful

* It is not only the clearing of woods, but cultivation,
and popuhtjon, that alter the climate of a country, and
make it mild. The Romans looked upon the winters of
Germany and England as very fevere, but happily both coun-
tries bave at prefent a much more mild climate than for-
merly, owing to the three above mentioned reafons. Near
Peterfiurg^ under fixty degrees north latitude, the river
Ne-va was covered with ice 1765, in the beginning of De-
cember, and cleared of it Jprilt\\e nth 1766. At T/arit-
Jin, which is under forty-eight degrees forty minutes north
Jatitude, the river Volga was covered with ice the 26th of
Ncviffiber 1765, and the ice broke in the river April the
27th 1766, (all old (tile). Is it not almoll incredible, that
in a place very near twelve degrees more to the fouth, the
efFedls of cold fhould be felt longer, and more feverely,
than in the more northern climate. And though the neigh-
bourhood oi Peierfourg has a great many woods, the cold
was, however, lefs fevere, and lafting ; T/aritJin on the
contrary has no woods for many hundred miles in its neighs
bourhood, if we except fome few trees and bufhes, along
the Folga and its ifles, and the low land along it. Where-
ever the eye looks to the eaft, there are vaft plains without
woods, for many hundred miles. The clearing a country
of woods, cannot therefore alone contribute fo much to
make the climate milder. But cultivation does more. On
a ploughed field the fnow will always fooner melt, than
on a field covered with grafs. The inflammable warm per-
ticles brought into the field, by the various kinds of ma-
nure, contribute much to (often the rigours of the climate ;
buc the exhalations of thoufands of men and cattle, in a po-
pulous country, the burning of fo many combuftibles,
and the difperfion of fo many caullic particles, through
the whole athmofphere; thefe are things which contribute
fo much towards foftening the rigours of a climate. In a
hundred iquare miles near Tjariifin, there is not fo much cul-
tivated land as there is within ten near Pcterjburg ; it is in
proportion to the number of the inhabjtans of both places,

and

^ebec. 2-1

ful in Canada^ and that moil of the corn
has hardly ever arrived at perfed: maturity.

OBober. During this month the fields
were ploughed, and the weather was very
fine all the time. There was a little froft
for feveral nights, and on the 28th it
fnowed. Towards the end of this month
the trees began to fhed their leaves.

November. They continued to plough
till the loth of this month, when the trees
had fhed all their leaves. Till the i8th
the cattle went out of doors, a few days
excepted, when bad weather had kept
them at home. On the i6th there was
fome thunder and lightning. There was
not yet any ice in the river St. Lawrence
on the 24th.

December. During this month it is
obferved, that the autumn has been much
milder than ufual. On the ift a diip could
ftill fet fail for France j but on the i6th
the river St. Lawrence was covered with
ice on the fides, but open in the middle.

In

and this makes the chief difFerence of the climate- There
is ftill another confic'eration, Peter/burg lies near the fea,
and Tfarit/tn in an inland country ; and, generally fpeaking,
countries near the fea have been obferved to enjoy a milder
climate. Thefe few remarks will he, I believe, fufficient
to enable every body to jiidge of the changes of the climate
in various countries, which, no doubt, grow warmer and
more temperate, as cultivation and populacion incrcdfe. F.

252 September 1749.

In the river Charles the ice was thick
enough for horfes with heavy loads to pafs
over it. On the 26th the ice in the river
St. Lawrence was wafhed away by a heavy
rain; bat on the 28th part of that river
was again covered with ice.

The next obfervations (hew, that the
winter has likewife been one of the mildeft.
I now refume the account of my own
journey.

This evening I left ^lebec with a fair
wind. The governor-general of Canada^
the marquis de la Jonqidere, ordered one
of the king's boats, and (even men to bring
me to Montreal. The middle of the boat
was cbvered with blue cloth, under which
we were fecured from the rain. This jour-
ney I made at the exp^nce of the French
king. We went three French miles to-day.

September the 12th. We continued our
journey during all this day.

The fmali kind of maize, which ripens
in three months time, was ripe about this
time, and the people drew it out of the
ground, and hung it up to dry.

The weather about this time was like
the beginning of our Augujl, old flile.
Therefore it feems, autumn commences a
whole month later in Canada, than in the
midfl of Sweden,

Near

Between ^'ehec and Trots Rivzeres. 1^5 j

Near each farm there is a kitchen^
garden, in which onions are moH: abun-
dant ; becaufe the French farmers eat their
dinners of them with bread, on Fridays and
Saturdays, or fafting days. However, I
cannot fay, the French are ftrid: obfervers
of falling J for feveral of my rowers ate
flefh to-day, though it was Friday. The
common people in Cajiada may be fmelled
when one palTes by them, on account of
their frequent ufe of onions. Pumpions
are likewife abundant in the farmer's gar-
dens. They drefs them in feveral ways,
but the mofl common is to cut them
through the middle, and place the inlide
on the hearth, towards the fire, till it is
quite roafied. The pulp is then cut out
of the peel, and eaten ; people above the
vulgar put fugar to it. Carrots, fallad,
French beans, cucumbers, and currant
flirubs, are planted in every farmer's little
kitchen-garden.

Every farmer plants a quantity of to-
bacco near his houfe, in proportion to the
iize of his family. It is likewife very ne-
ceffary that they {hould plant tobacco, be-
cauie it is fo univerfally fmoaked by the
common people. Boys of ten or twelve
years of age, run about with the pipe in
jheir mouths, as well as the old people.

Peribns

254 September 1749.

Perfons above the vulgar, do not refufe to
fmoak a pipe now and then. In the north-
ern parts of Canada, they generally fmoak
tobacco by itfelf; but further upwards,
and about Montreal, they take the inner
bark of the red Cornelian cherry *, crufh
it, and mix it with the tobacco, to make
it weaker. People of both fexes, and of
all ranks, ufe fnuff very much. Almoft
all the tobacco, v^^hich is confumed here,
is the produce of the country, and fome
people prefer it even to Virginian tobacco :
but thofe who pretend to be connoifleurs,
reckon the lad kind better than the other.
Though many nations imitate the Fr^;?^/?
cuftoms ; yet I obferved on the contrary,
that the French in Canada in many refpecfts
follow the cuftoms of the Indians, with
whom they converfe every day. They
make ufe of the tobacco-pipes, fhoes, gar-
ters, and girdles, of the Indians. They
follow the Indian way of making war with
exadtnefs ; they mix the fame things with
tobacco^ they make ufe of the Indian bark-
boats, and row them in the Indian way j
they wrap fquare pieces of cloth round
their feet, inftead of (lockings, and have
adopted many other Indian fafhions. When

* Cornus /anguine a, Linn.

one

Bet%veen ^ehec and Trois Rivkres. 25 r

one comes into the houfe of a Canada pea-
fant, or farmer, he gets up, takes his hat
ofF to the flranger, defires him to fit dov/n,
puts his hat on and fits down again. Th^
gentlemen and ladies, as well as the poor-
eft peafants an-d their wives, are called
Monfieur and Madame. The peafants, and
efpeciaily their wives, wear flioes, which
confift of a piece of wood hollowed our,
and are made almoft as flippers. Their
boys, and the old peafants themfelves,
wear their hair behind in a cue ; and moft
of them wear red woollen caps at home,
and fometimes on their journies.

The farmers prepare moft of their difhes
of milk. Butter ib but feldom feen, and
what they have is made of four cream,
and therefore not fo good as Englifi but-
ter. Many of the French are very fond
of milk, vvhich they eat chiefly on fafi:ing
days. However, they have not fo many
methods of preparing it as we have in Swe-
den. The common way was to boil it,
and put bits of bread, and a good deal of
fugar, into it. The Fre?i<:h here eat near
as much flefh as the EngliJJj, on thofe days
when their religion allows it. For ex-
cepting the foup, the fallads, and the de-
fert, all their other diilies confifi of flefh
varioufly prepared.

At

256 September 1749.

At night we lay at a farm-houfe, near
a river called Petite Riviere, which falls
here into the river St. Lawrence. This
place is reckoned fixteen French miles from
Quebec, and ten from Trois Rivieres. The
tide is ftill confiderable here. Here is the
laft place where the hills, along the river,
coniift of black lime-flate j further on they
are compofed merely of earth.

Fire-flies flew about the woods at
night, though not in great numbers ; the
French call them Moiiches a feu.

The houfes in this neighbourhood are
all made of wood. The rooms are pretty
large. The inner roof refts on two, three,
or four, large thick fpars, according to the
iize of the room. The chinks are filled
with clay, inftead of mofs. The windows
are made entirely of paper. The chimney
is erected in the middle of the room j that
part of the room which is oppolite the
fire, is the kitchen ; that which is be-
hind the chimney, ferves the people to
fleep, and receive Grangers in. Sometimes
there is an iron ftove behind the chimney.

September the 13th. Near Clwmplain,
which is a place about five French miles
from ^rois Rivieres, the fteep hills near
the river confift of a yellow, and fome-
tiines ockre-coloured fandy earth, in which

a num-

Betwee?i ^lebec and Trois Rivieres, 2 57

a number of fmall fprlngs arife. The water
in them is generally filled with yellow ockre,
which is a fign, that thefe dry fandy fields
contain a great quantity of the fame iron
ore, which is dug at T'rois Rivieres. It is
not conceivable from whence that number
of fmall rivulets takes their rife, the ground
above being flat, and exceeding dry in
fummer. The lands near the river are
cultivated for about an Englifld mile into
the country; but behind them there are
thick forefts, and low grounds. The woods,
which colled^ a quantity of moifture, and
prevent the evaporation of the water, force
it to make its way under ground to the
river. The {Lores of the river are here
covered with a great deal of black iron-
fand.

Towards evening we arrived at l^rois
Rivieres, where we (laid no longer, than
was neceflary to deliver the letters, which
we brought with us from ^lehec. After
that we went a French mile higher up, be-
fore we took our night's lodging.

This afternoon we faw three remark-
able old people. One was an oid Jefuit,
called father Jofeph Auhery, who had been
a miffionary to the converted Indians of
St. Francois. This fummer he ended the
fiftieth year of his miffion. Pie therefore

Vol. Ill, R returned

25S September 1749*

returned to ^ebec, to renew his vows
there ; and he feemed to be healthy, and
in good rpirits. The other two people
were our landlord and his wife ; he was
above eighty years of age, and fhe was not
much younger. They had now been fifty-
one years married^ The year before, at
the end of the fiftieth year of their mar-
riage, they went to church together, and
offered up thanks to God Almighty for
the great grace he gave them. They were
yet quite well, content, merry, and talk-
ative. The old man faid, that he was at
^ebec when the Englifo befieged it, in the
year 1690^ and that the bifhop went up
and down the flreets, dreffed in his ponti-
fical robes, and a fword in his hand, in
order to recruit the fpirits of the foldiers.

This old man faid, that he thought the
winters were formerly much colder than
they are now. There fell likewife a greater
quantity of fnow, when he was young.
He could remember the time when pum-
pions, cucumbers, &c. were killed by the
trofl about mid-fummer, and he afiured
me, that the fummers were warmer now
than they ufed to be formerly. About
thirty and feme odd years ago, there was
fuch a fevere winter in Caiiaday that the
froft killed many birds 5 but the old man

could

Between Trois Rivieres and Montreal, 259

could not remember the particular year.
Every body allowed, that the fummers in
1748, and 1749, had been warmer in C^-
nada than they have been many years ago.

The foil is reckoned pretty fertile ; and
wheat yields nine or ten grains from one.
But when this old man was a boy, and the
country was new and rich every where,
they could get twenty, or four-and-twenty,
grains from one. They fow but little rye
here; nor do they fow much barley, except
for the ufe of cattle. They complain,
however, that when they have a bad crop,
they are obliged to bake bread of barley.

September ihQ 14th. This morning we
got up early, and purfued our journey.
After we had gone about two French miles,
we got into lake St. Pierre^ which we
crolTed. Many plants, which are common
in our Swedijh lakes, fwim at the top of
this water. This lake is faid to be covered
every winter with fuch flrong ice, that a
hundred loaded horfes could go over it to-
gether with fafety.

A CRAV/-FISH, or river lobfter, fome-
what like a crab, but quite minute, about
two geometrical lines long, and broad in
proportion, was frequently drawn up by us
with the aquatic weeds. Its colour is a
pale greenifh v/hite.

R 2 Thf.

i6o September 1749.

The cordated Po?2tederid * grows plenti-
ful on the fides of a long and narrow canal
of water, in the places frequented by our
water-lilies '^. A great number of hogs
wade far into this kind of llrait, and feme-
times duck the greateft part of their bodies
under water, in order to get at the roots,
which they are very fond of.

As foon as we were got through lake St.
Pierre, the face of the country was entirely
changed, and became as agreeable as could
be wi(hed. The illes, and the land on
both fides of us, looked like the prettied
pleafure-gardens 5 and this continued till
near Mont real.

Near every farm on the river-fide there
are fome boats, hollowed out of the trunks
of lingle trees, but commonly neat and
well made, having the proper {hape of
boats. In one fingle place I faw a boat
made of the bark of trees.

September the 15th. We continued our
journey early this morning. On account
of the flrength of the river, which came
down againO: us, we were fometimes obliged
to let the rowers go on fhore, and draw the
boat.

* Pontederia cor data Linn,
f Njmphaa.

At

Montreal. 261

At four o'clock In the evening we ar-
rived at Montreal', and our voyage was
reckoned a happy one, becaufe the vio-
lence of the river flowing againft us all the
way, and the changeablenefs of the winds,
commonly protrad: it to two weeks.

Septefnber the 19th. Several people
here in town have got the French vines,
and planted them in their gardens. They
have two kinds of grapes, one of a pale
green, or almofi: white \ the other, of a
reddifh brown colour. From the white
ones they fay, white wine is made; and
from the red ones, red wine. The cold in
winter obliges them to put dung round the
roots of the vines, without vv'hich they
would be killed by the froft. The grapes
began to be ripe in thefe days ; the white
ones are a little fooner ripe than the red
ones. They make no wine of them here,
becaufe it is not worth while ; but they are
ferved up at deferts. They fay tliefe grapes
do not grow fo big here as in France.

Water-melons * are cultivated in
great plenty in the FngliJJo and French Ame^
rican colonies ^ and there is hardly a pea-
fant here, who has not a field planted with
them. They are chiefly cultivated in the

Cncurhita citr alius Linn.

R 3 neigh-

i62 ^^pt ember 1749.

neighbourhood of towns j and they are
very rare in the north part of Canada. The
Indians plant great quantities of water-me-
lons at prefent -, but whether they have
done it of old is not ealily determined. For
an old Onidoe Indian (of the fix Iroqiiefe
nations) affured me, that the Indians did
not know water-melons before the Euro-
feans came into the country, and commu-
nicated them to the Indians. The French,
on the other hand, have affured me, that
the Illinois Indians have had abundance of
this fruit, when the French firfl came to
them ', and that they declare, they had
planted them fince times immemorial.
However, I do not remen:»bcr having read
that the Europeans y who firft came to North-
America, mention the water-melonp, in
fpeaking of the difiies of the Indians at
that time. How great the fummer heat is
in thofe parts of America which I have
paffed through, can eafily be conceived,
when one conliders, that in all thofe places,
they never fow water-melons in hot-beds,
but in the open fields in fpring, without fo
much as covering them, and they ripen in
time. Here are two Ipecies of them, viz.
one with a red pulp,, and one with a white
one. The firft is more common to the
fouthward, with the lUinQis, and in the

Englijh

Montreal, 263

Engliflj colonies ; the lafl is more abundant
in Cafiada. The feeds are fovvn in fpring,
after the cold is entirely gone off, in a good
rich ground, at fome diftance from each
other y becaufe their ftalks fpread far, and
require much room, if they Ihall be very
fruitful. They were now ripe at Montreal -,
but in the Englijh colonies they ripen in
July and Auguji, They commonly require
lefs time to ripen in, than the common
melons. Thofe in the Rnglifi colonies are
commonly fweeter, and more agreeable,
than the Canada ones. Does the greater
heat contribute any thing towards making
them more palatable ? Thofe in the pro-
vince of New-Tork are, however, reckoned
the beft.

The water-melons are very juicy; and
the juice is mixed with a cooling pulp,
which is very good in the hot fummer-fea-
fon. Nobody in Canada, in Albany, and
in other parts of New-Tork, could produce
an example, that the eating of water-me-
lons in great quantities had hurt any body;
and there are examples even of fick perfons
eating them without any danger. Further
to the fouth, the frequent ufe of them it
is thought brings on intermitting fevers,
and other bad diflempers, efpecially in fuch
people as are lefs ufed to them. Many
R 4 French-

264 Eeptemher i749»

Frenchmen afiured me, that when people
born in Canada came to the Illinois, and eat
feveral times of the waier-m-elons of that
part, they immediately got a fever 1 and
therefore th^ Illinois advife the French not to
eat of a fruit fo dangerous to thetn. They
themfelves are fubjed: to be attacked by fe-
verSj if they cool their ftomachs too often
xvith water-melons. In Canada they keep
them in a room, which is a little heated ^
by which means they will keep frefli two
months after they are ripe ; bat care muft
be taken, that the froft fpoil them not. In
the Englifi plantations they likewife keep
them freih in dry cellars, during part of
the winter. They aflured me that they
keep better when they are carefully broke
off from the ftalk, and afterwards burnt
with a red-hot iron, in the place where the
flalk was faftened. In this manner they
may be eaten at Chrijimas, and after. In
Penfyhania, where they have a dry fandy
earth, they make a hole in the ground, put
the water-melons carefully into it with
their (blks, by which means they keep
very frefli during a great part of winter.
Few people, however, take this trouble
with the water-melons ; becaufe they be^
ing very coohng, and the winter being very
cold too, it feeras to be lefs neceffary to

keep

Montreal, s6^

keep them for eating in that feafon, which
is already very cold. They are of opinion
in thefe parts, that cucumbers cool more
than water-melons. The latter are ver/
flrongly diuretic. The Iroquefe call them
Onoheferakatee.

Gourds of feveral kinds, oblong, ronnd,
flat or comprefled, crook-necked, fmall, ©r,
are planted in all the Englijh and French
colonies. In Canada, they fill the chief
part of the farmers kitchen-gardens, though
the onions came very near up with them.
Each farmer in the Englifi plantations, has
a large field planted with gourds, and the
Germans t Swedes, Dutch, and ether Euro-
peans, fettled in their colonies, plant them.
Gourds are a confiderable part of the Indian
food J however, tht-y plant more fquafhes
than common gourds. They declare, that
they have had gourds long'before the Euro-
peans difcovered America; which feems to
be confirmed by the accounts of the firft
Europeans that came into thefe parts, who
mentioned gourds as common food rmong
the Indians. The French here call them
citrouilles, and the EngliJJd in the colonies,
pumpkins. They are planted in fpring, when
they have nothing to fear from the froft,
in an enclofed field, and a good rich foil.
They are like wife frequently put into old

hot-

266 ^ September 1749.

hot-beds. In Ca7iada, they ripen towards
the beginning of September, but further
fouthward they are ripe at the end of July,
As foon as the cold weather commences, they
take off all the pumpions that remain on the
ftalk, whether ripe or not, and fpread them on
the floor, in a part of the houfe, where the un-
ripe ones grow perfedly ripe, if they are not
laid one upon the other. This is done
round Montreal in the middle of September ;
but in Penfyhauia, I have feen fome in the
fields on the 19th of OBober, They keep
frefh for feveral months, and even through-
out the winter, if they be well fecured in
dry cellars (for in damp ones they rot very
foon) where the cold cannot come in^, or,
Vvhich is ftill better, in dry rooms which
are heated now and then, to prevent the
cold from damaging the fruit.

Pumpions are prepared for eating in va-
rious ways. The Indians boil them whole,
or roafl them in afhes, and eat them then,
or go to fell them thus prepared in the
towns, and they have, indeed, a very fine
flavour, when roafted. The French and
Englifb flice them, and put the flices before
the fire to roaft j when they are rcafled, they
generally put fugar on the pulp. Another
way of roailing them, is to cut them through
the middle, take out all the feeds, put the
halves together again, and roafl them in an

oven.

Montreal, 267

oven* When they are quite ro;i{led, fome
butter is put in, whiKt they are warm,
which heing imbibed into the pulp, renders
it very palatable. They often boil pumpions
in water, and afterwards eat them, either
alone or with fielh. Some make a thin
kind of pottage of them, by boiling them
in water, and afterwards macerating the
pulp. This is again boiled with a little of
the water, and a good deal of milk, and
flirred about whilft it is boiling. Some-
times the pulp is ftamped and kneaded into
dough, with maize flour or other flour ;
of this they make cakes. Some make pud-
dings and tarts of gourds. The Indians^ in
order to preferve the pumpions for a very
long time, cut them in long flices, which
they faften or twifh together, and dry them
either by the fun, or by the fire in a room.
When they are thus dried, they will keep
for years together, and when boiled, they
tsfte very well. The Indians prepare them
thus at ho^neandon tb.eirjournies, and from
them the Eiuopeans have adopted this me-
thod. Sometimes they do not take the time
to hoi) it, but eat it dry with hung beef, or
other fiefli j and I own they are eatable in
that flat'-, and very welcome to a hungry
ftornach. They fometimes preferve them
in the foiiowing manner at Montreal: They

cut

^68 S£pt ember 1749.

cut a pumpion in four pieces, peal them^
and take the feeds out of them. The pulp
is put in a pot with boiling, water, in which
it muft boil from four to ^\x minutes. It is
then put into a cullender, and left in it till
the next day, that the water may run off.
When it is mixed with cloves, cinnamon,
and fome lemon peel, preferved in fyrap,
and there muft be an equal quantity of fy-
rup and of the pulp. After which it is
boiled together, till the fyrup is entirely im-
bibed, and the white colour of the pulp is
quite loft.

September the 20th. The corn of this
year's harveft in Canada^ was reckoned the
iineft they had ever had. In the province of
New-Tork, on the contrary, the crop was
very poor. The autumn was very fine this
year in Canada.

September the 22d. The French in Ca-
nada carry on a great trade with the Indians \
and though it was formerly the only trade
of this extenfive country, yet its inhabi-
tants were confiderably enriched by it. At
prefent, they have befides the Indian goods,
feveral other articles which are exported
from hence. The Indiana in this neighbour-
hood, who go hunting in winter like the
oth-r hidians nations, commonly bring their
furi, and £kins to fale in ther neighbouring

French

Montreal. 26g

French towns ; however this is not fuffici-
ent. The Indians who live at a greater di-
iliance, never come to Canada at all ; and,
left they lliould bring their goods to the
Englijhy as the Englifi go to them, the
French are obliged to undertake journies,
and purchafe the Indian goods in the coun-
try of the Indians. This trade is chiefly
carried on at Montreal, and a great number
of young and old men every year, under-
take long and troublefome voyages for that
purpofe, carrying with them fuch goods as
they know the Indians like, and are in want
of. It is not neceflary to take money on
fuch a journey, as the Indians do not value
it ; and indeed I think the French, who go
on thefe journies, fcarce ever take afolor
penny with them.

I WILL now enumerate the chief goods
which the French carry with them for this
trade, and which have a good run among
the Indians.

Miijkets, Powder, Shot, and Balls. The
Europeans have taught the Indians in their
neighbourhood the ufe of fire-arms, and
they have laid aiide their bows and arrows,
which were formerly their only arms and
make ufe of mudcets. If the Europeans
fhculd now refufe to fupply theiW/V/;^^ with
mufkets, they would be ftarved to death ;
6 as

270 September 1749.

as almofl; all their food confifis of the fleili
of the animals, which they hunt; or they
would be irritated to fuch a degree as to at-
tack xht Europeans. The Indians have hi-
therto never tried to make muskets or fimi-
lar fire-arms ; and their great indolence
does not even allow them to mend thofe
muskets which they have got. They leave
this entirely to the Europeans, As the £«-
ropeans came into North-America^ they were
very careful not to give the Indians any fire-
arms. But in the wars between the French
and EngliJJd, each party gave their Indian
allies fire-arms, in order to weaken the
force of the enemy. The French lay the
blame upon the Dutch fettlers in Albany,
faying, that they began, in 1642, to give
their Indians fire-arms, and taught them
the ufe of them, in order to weaken the
French. The inhabitants of Albany, on
the contrary, affert, that the French firft
introduced this cuflom, as they would have
been too weak to refift the combined force
of the Dutch and Englijh in the colonies.
Be this as it will, it is certain that the In-
dians buy mufkets from the Europeans, and
know at prefent better how to make ufe of
them, than fome of their teachers. It is
likewife certain, that the Eiiropeojis gain

confiderably

Montreal. 271

confiderably by their trade in muikets and
ammunition.

Pieces of white cloth, or of a coarfe un-
cut cloth. The Indians conftantly wear
fuch pieces of cloth, wrapping them round
their bodies. Sometimes they hang them
over their fhoulders; in warm weather,
they faften them round the middle ; and in
cold weather, they put them over the head.
Both their men and women wear thefe
pieces of cloth, which have commonly fe-
veral blue or red ftripes on the edge.

Blue or red cloth. Of this the Indian
women make their petticoats, which reach
only to their knees. They generally chufe
the blue colour.

Shirts andjldifts of linen. As foon as an
Indian fellow, or one of their women, have
put on a ihirt, they never wafli it, or ftrip
it off, till it is entirely torn in pieces.

Pieces of cloth^ which they wrap 'round
their legs initead of liockings, like the
Ruffians.

Hatchets, knives, fcijfars, needles, and a
feel to frike fire with. Thefe inftruments
are now common among'"the Indians. They
all take thefe inflruments from the Europe-
ans, and reckon the hatchets and knives
much better, than thofe which they for-
merly made of ifones and bones. The

ftone

272 September 1749.

ftone hatchets of the ancient Indians ar©
very rare in Canada,

Kettles of copper or brafs, fometimes tin-
ned in the infide. In thefe the Indians now
boil all their meat, and they have a very great
run v/ith them. They formerly made ufe
of earthen or wooden pots, into which they
poured water, or whatever elfe they wanted
to boil, and threw in red hot (tones to make
it boil. Ihey do not want iron boilers, be-
caufe they cannot be ealily carried on their
continual journies, and would not bear fuch
falls and knocks as their kettles are fubjed:
to.

'Ear-rhigs of differ entf.zes, commonly of
brais, and fometimes of tin. They are
worn by boih men and women, though the
life of them is not general.

Vermillion, ¥7ith this they paint their
face, fhirt, and feveral parts of the body.
They formerly made ufe of a reddiih earth,
which is to be found in the country; but,
as the 'Europeans brought them vermillion,
they thought nothing was comparable to it in
colour. Many perfons have told me, that
they had heard their fathers mention, that
the iirft Frenchmen who came over here, got
a great heap of furs from the Indians^ for
three times as much cinnabar as v.'ould ly on
the tip of a knife,

Vwdi-

Montreal 273

Verdtgreafe, to paint their faces green.
For the black colour, they make ule of the
foot at the bottom of their kettles, and daub
their whole face with it.

Looking glaffes. The Indians are very
much pleafed with them, and make ufe of
them chiefly v/hen they want to paint them-
felves. The men conftantly carry their
looking glalTes with them on all th^rir jour-
nies ; but the women do not. The men,
upon the whole, are more fond of dreffing
than the women.

Burning glajjes. Thefe are excellent
pieces of furniture in the opinion of the /;z-
dians \ becaufe they ferve to light the pipe
without any trouble, which an indolent /;;-
dian is very fond of.

tobacco is bought by the northern Indianst
in whofe country it will not grow. The
fouthern Indians always plant as much of it
as they want for their own confumption.
Tobacco has a great run amongll the nor-
thern hidians, and it has been obferved, that
the further they live to the northward, the
more they fmoke of tobacco.

Wampufn^ or, as they are here called,
porcelanes. They are made of a particular
kind of (hells, and turned into little rtiort
cylindrical beads, and ferve the hidiafis fur
money and ornament.

Vol. III. S Glafs

274 c^eptemMr 1749.

Glafs beadsy of a fmall fize, and white
or other colours. The Indian women know
how to fallen them in their ribbands,
pouches, and clothes.

Brafs andjieel wire^ for feveral kinds of
work.

Brandy^ which the Indians value above all
other goods that can be brought them; nor
have they any thing, though ever fo dear to
them, which they would not give away for
this liquor. But, on account of the many
irregularities which are caufed by the ufe of
brandy, the fale of it has been prohibited
under fevere penalties j however, they do
not always pay an implicit obedience to this
order.

These are the chief goods which the
Trench carry to the Indians, and they have
a good run among them.

The goods which they bring back from
the Indians, confift entirely in furs. The
Fre?2chgQX. them in exchange for their goods,
together with all the necelTary provifions
they want on the journey. The furs are of
two kinds ; the beft are the nor-
thern ones, and the word fort thofe from
the fouth.

In the northern parts of America there
are chiefly the following fkins of animals :

bears.

Montreal . 27 r

beavers, elks*, rein-deerf,woIf-lynxest, and
martens. They fometimes get martens
ikins from the fouth, but they are red, and
good for little. Ptchou dii Nord is perhaps
the animal which x\\tEnglifi, rear UuJfoii^
bay, call the wolverene. To the northern
furs belong the bears, which are but few,
and foxes, which are not very numerous,
and generally black 1 and feveral oiher
fkins.

The fliins of the fomhern parts are
chiefly taken from the following animals :
wild cattle, (lags, roebucks, otters, Pichoux
du Slid, of which V .Charlevoix makes men-
tion §, and are probably a fpecies of cat-
lynx, or perhaps a kind of panther; foxes
of various kinds, raccoons, cat-lynxes, and
feveral others.

It is inconceivable what harddiips the
people in Canada mull; undergo on their
journies. Sometimes they mufl: carry their
goods a great way by land ; frequently they
are abufed by the Indianst and fometimes
they are killed by them. They often fuffcr
hunger, thirft, heat, and cold, and are bit
by gnats, and expofed to the bites of poi-

* Orignacs.

f Cariboux.

X Loiip cerviers.

§ In his Hift. de la Nouv. France, Tom. V. p. 15 S.

S 2 fonous

276 September 1749.

fonous fnakes, and other dangerous animals
and infeds. Thefe deftroy a great part of
the youth in Canada, and prevent the
people from growing old. By this means,
however, they become fuch brave foldiers,
and fo inured to fatigue, that none of them
fear danger or hardships. Many of them
fettle among the Indians far from Canada,
marry Indian women, and never come back
again.

The prices of the skins in Canada, in the
year 1749, were communicated to me by
M. de Couagne, a merchant at Montreal,
with whom I lodged. They were as fol-
lows :

Great and middle fized bear skins,
coft: five livres.

Skins of young bears ^ fifty fols.

-— lynxs, 25 fols.

— ^ ' — pichoux dufiid, 35 fols.

— foxes from the fouthern parts,

35 fo^s.

■ ' — , — otters, 5 livres.

• raccoons, 5 livres.

-~ — martens, 45 fols.

— — •— — wolf-lynxes *, 4 livres.

wolves, 40 fols.

carcajoux, an animal which

I do not know, 5 livres.

* Loups cerviers.

Montreal,

277

Skins of vifons, a kind of martens,
which live in the water, 25 fols.
RAwfkins of elks*, 10 livres.

■_ Jiigs\.

Bad Ikins of elks z.x\^ flags J, 3 livres.
Skins of roebucks, 25, or 30 fols.

— red foxes, 3 livres.

— — • beavers, 3 livres.

I WILL now infert a lift of all the diffe-
rent kinds of ikins, which are to be got in
Canada, and which are fent from thence to
Europe^ I got it from one of the grcateft
merchants in Montreal, They are as fol-
lows :

Prepared roebuck ikins, chevreuils pajfes.

Unprepared ditto, chevreuils verts.

Tanned ditto, chevreuils tanes.

Bears, ours.

Young bears, ourfons.

Otters, loutres.

Pecans.

Cats, chats.

Wolves, loup de bois.

Lynxes, loups cerv'iers.

North pichoux, pichoux du nord.

* Originacs verts.

f Ccrfs verts.

X Originacs etcerfs pafTes.

S 3 South

2^8 September 1749.

South pichoux, pichoux du Jud.

Red foxes, renards rouges.

Crofs loxes, renards croijes.

Black foxes, renards noirs.

Grey foxes, renards argentes.

Southern, or Virginian foxes, renards du
Jud oil de Virginie.

White foxes, frooi 1'adoujfuc, reiuirds
blancs de TadoulTac.

Martens, niartres.

Vifons, ovfoutreatix.

Black fquirrels, eciireuiis noirs..

Raw flags Hcins, cerfs verts.

Prepared ditto, cerfs pajfes.

Raw elks ikins, originals verts.

Prepared ditto, originals pa/fes.

Rein-deer fliins, cariboux.

Raw hinds fkins, biches verts.

Prepared ditto, biches pnjjees.

Carcajotix. ^

Musk rats, rats jnufques.

Fat winter beavers, cajiors gras d'hiver.

Ditto fummer beivers, cajiors gras d'ete.

Dry winter beavers, cajiors fees d'hiver.

Ditto fummer beavers, cajiors fees iete.

Old winter beavers, cafiors vieux d'hiver.

Ditto fummer beavers, <:^y'?t?rj-w>2^.v d'ete,

To-DAY, I got a piece of native copper
from the Upper Lake. They find it there

almofl

Montreal, 279

almofl quite pure ; fo that It does not want
melting over again, but is immediately fit
for working. Father Charlevoix * fpeaks of
it in his Hiilory of Neiv-France. ' One of
the Jefuits at Montreal, who had been at
the place where this metal is got, told me,
that it is generally found near the mouths of
rivers, and that there are pieces of native
copper too heavy for a fingle man to lift up.
The Indians there fay, that they formerly
found a piece of about feven feet long, and
near four feet thick, all of pure copper. As
it is always found in the ground near the
mouths of rivers, it is probable that the ice
or water carried it down from a mountain ;
but, notwithftanding the careful fearch that
has been made, no place has been found,
where the metal lies in any great quantity
together.

The header fuperior of theprieflsof M?;z-
trealy gave me a piece of lead-ore to-day.
He faid it was taken' from a place only a few
Fre72cli miles from Montreal, and it confid-
ed of pretty compad, fhining cubes, of lead
ore. I v/as told by feveral perfons here, that
furthermore fouthward in the country, there
is a place where they find a great quantity
of this lead-ore in the ground. The In-

*SeehisHm. delaNouv. Fr. Tom. VI. p. 415.

S 4 ^^^^^^-

28o September 1749.

dians near it, melt it, and make balls and
fhot of it. I got fome pieces of it likewile,
confiding of a fhining cubic lead-ore, with
narrow ftripes between it, and of a white
hard earth or clay, which efFervefces with
aqua Jortis.

I LIKEWISE received a rcddifh brown
earth to-day, found near the Lac de Deux
Montagties, or Lake of Two MountainSy a
few French miles from Montreal. It may
be eafily crumbled into duft between the
fingers. It is very heavy, and more fj than
the earth of that kind generally is. Out-
wardly, it has a kind of gloffy appearance,
and, when it is handled by the fingers for
fome time, they are quite as it were filver-
ed over. It is, therefore, probably a kind of
lead-earth or an earth mixed with iron-
glimmer.

The ladies in Canada are generally of
two kinds : fome come over from France,
and the reft natives. The former polTefs
the politenefs peculiar to the French na-
tion ; the latter may be divided into thofe
of ^ehcc and Montreal. The firft of thefe
are equal to the French ladies in good
breeding, having the advantage of fre-
quently converfing with the French gentle-
men and ladies, who corne every fummer
with the king's (hips, and ftay feveral weeks

at

Montreal.

2^61

at ^^ehec, but feldom go to Montreal The
ladies of this laft place are accufed by the
Fre?ich of partaking too much of the pride
of the Indians, and of being much want-
ing in French good breeding. What I
have mentioned above of their dreffing
their head too affiduoully, is the cafe with
all the ladies throughout Cafiada. Their
hair is always curled, even when they are
at home in a dirty jacket, and fliort coarfe
petticoat, that does not reach to the mid-
dle of their legs. On thofe days when
they pay or receive vifits, they drefs fogayly,
that one is almoll: induced to think their
parents poilefled the greatefl: dignities in
the ftate. The Frenchmen^ who confidered
things in their true light, complained very
much that a great part of the ladies in Ca-
nada had got into the pernicious cuftom of
taking too much care of their drefs, and
fquandering all their fortunes, and more,
upon it, inftead of fparing fomething for
future times. They are no lefs attentive
to have the newefl fa(hions ; and they laugh
at each other, when they are not dreffed to
tach other's fancy. But what they get as
new falhions, are grown old, and laid afidc
in France ; for the fhips coming but once
every year from thence, the people in Ca-
nada conlider that as the new falhion for

the

282 September 1749.

the whole year, which the people on board
brought with them, or Vv'hich they impofed
upon them as new. The ladies in Canada,
and efpecially at Montreal^ src very ready
to laugh at any blunders Grangers make in
fpeaking -, but they are very excufable.
People laugh at what appears uncommon
and ridiculous. In Canada nobody ever
hears the French language fpoken by any
but Frenchmen ; for Grangers feldom come
thither ; and the Indians are naturally too
proud to learn French, but oblige the French
to learn their language. From hence it
naturally follows, that the nice Canada la^
dies cannot hear any thing uncommon with-
out laughing at it. One of the firft quef-
tions they propofe to a (Iranger is, whether
he is married ? The next, how he likes the
ladies in the country ; and whether he
thinks them handibmer than thofe of his
^ own country ? And the third, whether he
will take one home with him ? There are
fome differences between the ladies oi ^ie-
hec, and thofe of Mc?2treal -, thofe of the
lafi place feemed to be generally hand-
fomer than thofe of the former. Their
behaviour likewife feemed to me to be
fomewhat too free at ^ebec, and of a
more becoming modefty ar Montreal. The
ladies at Quebec, efpecially the unmarried
ones, are not vtry indullrious. A girl of

eighteen

Montreal. 283

eighteen is reckoned very poorly ofF, if (he
cannot enumerate at leaft twenty lovers.
Thefe young ladies, efpecially thofe of a
higher rank, get up at feven, and drefs till
nine, drinking their coffee at the fame time.
When they are dreffed, they place them-
felvss near a window that opens into the
Ih'eet, take up fome needle-work, and few
a ftitch now and then j hut turn their eyes
into the flreet mofi: .of the time. When a
young fellow comes in, whether they are
acquainted with him or not, they immedi-
ately lay afide their work, fit down by him,
and begin to chat, laugh, joke, and invent
double- entendres ; and this is reckoned be-
ing very witty*. In this manner they fre-
quently pafs the whole day, leaving their
mothers to do all the buiinefs in the houfe.
In Montrealy the girls are not quite fo vo-
latile, but more induflrious. They are al-
ways at their needle-work, or doing fome
ne.cefiary bufinefs in the houfe. They are
jikewife chearful and content; and nobody
can fay that they want either wit, or
charms. Their fault is, that they think
too well of themfelves. However, th'e
daughters of people of all ranks, without
exception, go to market, and carry home
what they have bought. They rife as foon,

* Avoir htaucoup d''c/prit.

and

2 84 September 1749.

and go to bed as late, as any of the people
in the houfe. I have been alTared, that,
in general, their fortunes are not confider-
able; which are rendered ftill more fcarceby
the number of children, and the fmall reve-
nues in a houfe. The girls at Montreal
are very much difpleafed that thofe at ^e-
Bee get hufbands focner than they. The
reafon of this is, that many young gentle-
men who come over from France with the
fhips, are captivated by the ladies at ^le-
beCi and marry them j but as thefe gentle-
men feldom go up to Montreal, the girls
there are not often fo happy as thofe of the
former place.

September the 23d. This morning I
went to Saut au Recollet, a place three
French miles northward of Montrealy to
defcribe the plants and minerals there, and
chiefly to collect feeds of various plants.
Near the town there are farms on both
iides of the road ; but as one advances fur-
ther on, the country grows woody, and
varies in regard to height. It is generally
very ftrongj and there are both pieces of
rock-ftone, and a kind of grey lime-ftone.
The roads arc bad, and almoft impaffable
for chaifes. A little before I arrived at
Saiit au Recollety the woods end, and the
country is turned into corn-fields, mea-
dows, and paflures.

Between Montreal and Saiit au RecoUct. 2S5

About a French mile from the town are
two lime-kilns on the road. They are built
of a grey lime-ftone, burnt hard, and of
pieces of rock-ftone, towards the fire. The
height of the kiln from top to bottom is
feven yards.

The lime-ftone which they burn here. Is
of two kinds. One Is quite black, and fo
compact, that its conftituent particles can-
not be diftingulfhed, fome difperfed grains
of white and pale grey fpar excepted. Now
and then there are thin cracks in it filled
with a white fmall-grained fpar.

I HAVE never feen any petrefadlions In
this ftone, though I looked very carefully
for them. This flone is common on the
ifle of Montr ealy about ten or twenty
inches below the upper foil. Jt lies in ftrata
of five or ten inches thicknefs. This flone
is faid to give the beft lime ; for, though it
is not fo white as that of the following grey
lime-flone, yet it makes better mortar, and
almofl turns into ftone, growing harder and
more compa6l every day. There are exam-
ples, that when they have been about to
repair a houfc made partly of this mortar,
the other ftones of which the houfe conlifts,
fooncr broke in pieces than the mortar it-
felf.

The

286 September 1749^

The other kind is a gre^/, and fometimes a
dark grey lime-ftone, coniifling of a compacfl
calcareous-done, mixed with grains of fpar,
of the fame colour. When broken, it has
a ftrong fmell of flink-ftone. It is full of
petrified flriated (h&\h or ped:inites. The
greateft part of thefe petrefa(5i:ions are^
however, only impreilions of the hollow
fide of the fliells. Now and- then I found
likewife petrefied pieces of the fliell itfelf,
though I could never find the fame fiiells in
their natural ftate on the {liores 3 and it feems
inconceivable how fuch a quantity of im-
preffions could come together, as I fhall
prefently mention.

I HAVE hadgreat piecesof this lime-done^
confifting of little elfe than peclinites, lying
clofe to one another. This lime-flone is
found on feveral parts of the ifle, where it
lies in horizontal flrata of the thicknefs of
five or ten inches. This flone yields a great
quantity of white lime, but it is not fo good
as the former, becaufeit grows damp in wet
weather.

Fir- WOOD is reckoned the befl for the!
lime-kilns, and the thuya wood next to it.
The v/ood of the fugar-maple, and other
trees of a fimilar nature, are not fit for it,
becaufe they leave a great quantity of
coals.

4 Grey

Saiit au Recolkt. 287

Grey pieces of rock-ftone are to be {'itix
in the woods and fields hereabouts.

The leaves of feveral trees and plants be-
gan now to get a pale hue; efpecially thofc
of the red maple, the fmooth fumach *,
the Polygonum fagittatiun , Linn, and fe-
veral of the ferns.

A GREAT crofs is ere(5lcd on the road
and the boy who (l^sewed me the wood, told
me that aperfon was buried there, who had
wrought great miracles.

At noon I arrived at Saut au Rtrollef,
which is a Httle place, fituated on a branch
of the river St. Lawrence ^ which flows
with a violent current between the ifles of
Montreal 2i'c\di J ejus. It has got its name
from an accident which happened to a re-
collet friar, called Nicolas Veil, in the year
1625. He went into a boat with a convert-
ed India?!, and fome Indians of the nation of
Hurons, in order to go to ^lebec -, bur, on
going over this place in the river, the boat
overfet, and both the friar and his profelyte
were drowned. The Indians (who have
been fufpedled of occafioning the overfet-
ting of the boat) Avam to the fhore, faved
what they could of the friars efFe(5ts, and
kept them.

* Rhus glabrum, Linn.

The

88 September 1749.

The country hereabouts is full of floneS,
and they have but lately began to cultivate
it ; for all the old people could remember
the places covered with tall woods, which
are now turned into corn-fields, meadows,
and paltures. The priefls .fay, that this
place was formerly inhabited by fome con-
verted Hiirons. Thefe Indians lived on a
high mountain,at a little diflance from Mont*
r^tf/, when the Prd^;?(r/z firft arrived here, and
the latter perfuaded them to fell that land.
They did fo, and fettled here at Saiit an Re-
collet, and the church which flill reiuains
here, was built for them, and they have at-
tended divine fervice in it for many years.
As the French began to increafe on the ifle
of Montreal, they wifhed to have it entire-
ly to themfclves, and perfuaded the Indians
again to fell them this fpot, and go to ano-
ther. The French have fince prevailed up-
on the /W/^^/^j- (whom they did not like to
have amongft them, becaufe of their drunk-
ennefs, and rambling idle life) to leave this
place again, and go to fettle at the lake des
Deux Montagnes, where they are at prefent,
and have a fine church of flone. Their
church at Saut au Recollet is of wood, looks
very old and ruinous, though its infide is
pretty good, and is made ufe of by the
Frenchmen in this place. They have al-
ready

Saut au Recolkf. 289

ready brought a quantity of flones hither,
and intend building a new church very Toon.
The botanical obfervations which I made
during thefe days, 1 fhall referve for ano-
ther pubUcation.

Though there had been no rain for fome
days paft, yet the moifture in the air was (o
great, that as I fpread fome papers on the
ground this afternoon, in a (hady place, in-
tending to put the feeds I colleded into
them, they were fo wet in a £ew minutes
time, as to be rendered quite ufelefs. The
whole fky was very clear and bright, and
the heat as intolerable as in the middle of
July.

One half of the corn-fields are left fal-
low alternately. The fallow grounds are
never ploughed in fummer i fo the cattle
can feed upon the weeds that grow on them.
All the corn made ufe of here is fummer
corn, as I have before obferved. Some
plough the fallow grounds late in autumn ;
others defer that buiinefs till fpring ; but
the firfl; way is faid to give a much better
crop. Wheat, barley, rye, ijnd oats are har-
rowed, but peafe are ploughed under ground.
They few commonly about the i rth of A-
pril, and begin with the peafe. Among
the many kinds of peafe v^hich are to be
got here, thev prefer the green ones to all

VoL.III. ' T others

290 hept ember 174^^

others for fowing. They require a high, dry^
poor ground, mixed with coarfe fand. The
harveft time commences about the end, and
fometimes in the middle of Augujl, Wheat
returns generally fifteen, and fometimes
twenty fold ; oats from fifteen to thirty
fold. The crop of peafe is fometimes for-
ty fold, but at other times only ten fold ;
for they are very different. The plough
and harrow are the only inftruments of
hufbandry they have, and thofe none of the
beft fort neither. The manure is carried
upon the fallow grounds in fpring. The
foil confifts of a grey ftony earth, mixed
with clay and fand. They fow no more
barley than is necefTary for the cattle ; for
they make no malt here. They fow a
good deal of oats, but merely for the hor-
fes and other cattle. Nobody knows here
how to make ufe of the leaves of deciduous
trees as a food for the cattle, though the
forefts are furnidied with no other than trees
of that kind, and though the people are
commonly forced to feed their cattle at
home during five months.

I HAVE already repeatedly mentioned,
that almofi: all the wheat which is fown in
Canada is fummer wheat, that is fuch as is
fown in fpring. Near ^ebec it fometimes
happens, when the fummer is lefs warm, or
4 the

Saut au Reco/Ief* 291

the fpring later than common, that a great
part of the wheat does not ripen perfeaiy
before the cold commences. I have been
afiured that fome people, who live on the
Ifle de Jefiis, fow wheat in autumn, which
is better, finer, and gives a more plentiful
crop, than the fummer wheat; but it does
not ripen above a week before the other
wheat.

September the 25th. In feveral places
hereabouts, they enclofe the fields with a
ftone fence, inftead of wooden pales. The
plenty of ftones which are to be got here,
render the labour very trifling.

Here are abundance of beech trees in
the woods, and they now had ripe ict^ds.
The people in Ca.?iada colled: them in au-
tumn, dry them, and keep them till winter,
when they eat them, inftead of walnuts and
hazel nuts ; and I am told they tafte very
well.

There is a fait fpring, as the priefl of
this place informed me, feven French^ miles
from hence, near the river d Ajfomption ; of
which during the war, they have made a fine
white fait. The water is faid to be very briny.

Some kinds of fruit-trees fucceed very
well near Montreal^ and I had here an op-
portunity of feeing fome very fine pears and
apples of various forts. Near ^cbec the
T 2 pear-

29-2 September 174^.

pear-trees will not fucceedjbecaufe the win-
ter is too fevere for them ; and fometimes
they are killed by the froft in the neigh-
bourhood of Montreal. Plum-trees of fe-
veral forts were firft brought over from
France, fucceed very well, and withftand
the rigours of winter. Three varieties of
America walnut-trees grow in the woods ;
but the walnut-trees brought over from
France die almoft every year down to the
very root, bringing forth new fhoots in
fpring. Peach-trees cannot well agree with
this climate ; a few bear the cold, but, for
greater fafety, they are obliged to put flraw
round them. Chefnut- trees, mulberry-trees,
and the like, have never yet been planted in
Canada.

The whole cultivated part of Canada
has been given away by the king to the
clergy, and fome noblemen -, but all the
uncultivated parts belong to him, as like-
wife the place on which ^lebec and Trois
Rivieres are built. The ground on which
the town of Montreal is built, together
with the whole ille of that name, belongs
to the priefls of the order of St. Sidpiciu&y
who live at Montreal. They have given
the land in tenure to farmers and others
who were willing to fettle on it, in fo much
that they have more upon their hands at

prefent
6

Suut au Recolkf, 293

prefent. The firil fettlers paid a trifling
rent for their land -, for frequently the whole
kafe for a piece of ground, three arpens
broad and thirty long, conlifts in a couple
of chicken -, and feme pay twenty, thirty,
or forty fols for a piece of land of the fame
fize. But thofe who came later, muft pay
near two ecus (crowns) for fuch a piece of
land, and thus the land-rent is very unequal
throughout the country. The revenues of
the bifhop of Catiada do not arife from any
landed property. The churches are built
at the expence of the congregations. The
inhabitants of Canada do not yet pay any
taxes to the kingj and he has no other re-
venues from it, than thofe which arife from
the cuftom-houfe.

The priefts of Montreal have a mill here,
where they take the fourth part of all that
is ground. However the miller receives a
third part of this (hare. In other places
he gf^ts the half of it. The priefts fome-
times leafe the mill for a certain fum. Be-
fides them nobody is allowed to eredl a mill
on the ifle of Montreal, they having referv-
ed that right to themfelves. In the agree-
ment dravv'n up between the priefls and the
inhabitants of the ifle, the latter are oblig-
ed to get all their corn ground in the mills
of the former.

T 3 They

294 Sepemhr 1749.

They boil a good deal of fugar in Ca;^",
Ja of the juice running out of the incifions
in the fugar-maple, the red maple, and th?
fugar- birch ; but that of the firfl tree is
ninil: commonly made ufe of. The way
of'preparing it has been more minutely de-
fcribed by me, in the Memoirs of the Royal
Swedijh Academy of Sciences *.

September the 26th. Early this mor-
ning I returned to Montreal. Every thing
began novv^ tolooklikeautumn. The leaves of
the trees were pale or reddiHi, and moft of
the plants had loft their flowers. Thofc
which ftill preferved them were the follow-
ing f:

Several forts of afters, both blue and
white.

Golden rods of viarious kinds.

Common milfoil.

Common felf-heal.

The crifped thiftle.

The biennial Oenothera.

The rough-leaved fun-flower, with tri-
foliated leaves.

The Canada violet.

* See the Volume for the year 175 1, p. 143, l£c.

t Jjitres. Solidagines. Achillea millefolium, Pruntllet
'Vulgaris. Carduus crifpuf, Oenothera biennis. Rudbeckid
triloba. Vivjla Canadenfis, Gsntiana Saponaria,

Montreal. 295

A fpecics of gentian.

Wild vines are abundant in the woods
hereabouts, climbing up very high trees.

I HAVE made enquiry among the French,
who travel far into the country, conce-n-
ning the food of the hdians. Thofe who
live far north, I am told, cannot plant any
thing, on account of the great degree of
cold. They have, therefore, no bread, and
do not live on vegetables; fle(h and fi{h is
their only food, and chiefly the flefli of bea-
vers, bears, rein-deer, elks, hares, and feve-
ral kinds of birds. Thofe Indlajis who live
far fouthward, eat the following things. Of
vegetables they plant mai^e, wild kidney
beans * of feveral kinds, pumpions of diffe-
rent forts, fquafhest a kind of gourds, water-
melons and melons f . All thefe plants have
been cultivated by the Indians, long before
the arrival of the Europeans. They like-
wife eat various fruits which grow in their
woods. Fifh and ilefh make a very great
part of their food. And they chiefly like
the fle(h of wild cattle, roe-bucks, ibgs,
bears, beavers, and fome other quadrupeds.
Among their dainty diflies, they reckon the
i^ater-taregrafsXi which the French call

• Phafeoli,

f Cucumis fnek, Linn.

X Zizaniaaquatica, Linn.

T 4 foi^<^

tg6 September 1749.

folk avoiney and which grows in plenty irt
their lakes, in ftagnant waters, and fome-
times in rivers which flow flowly. They
gather its feeds in OBober, and prepare them
in different ways, and chiefly as groats, which
tafl:e almoft as well as rice. They make
likewife many a delicious meal of the fe*
vera! kinds of walnuts, chefnuts, mulber-
ries, acimifie^, chinquapins -f-, hazel-nuts,
peaches, wild prunes, grapes, whortle-ber*
ties of feveral forts, various kinds of med-
lars, black-berries, and other fruit and roots.
But the fpecies of corn fo common in what
is called the old world, were entirely un-
known here before the arrival of the Euro-
feans ; nor do the Indians at prefent ever
•attempt to cultivate them, though they fee
the ufe which the Europeans make of the
culture of them, and though they are fond
of eating the di(hes which are prepared of
them.

September thtiyth. BEAVERsareabundant
all over North- AmericayZnd they areoneof the
chiefarticlesofthetradeinC^^;z<^d^^. TheJW/-
ans live upon their flefh during a great part
of the year. It is certain that thefe animals
multiply very faft 5 but it is no lefs fo, that

* Anvona muy'tcaia^ Linn.
f Fagus tumila, Linn.

vaa

Montreal. 'Z()y

vail numbers of them are annually killed,
and that the Indians are obliged at prefent
to undertake diftant journies, in order to
catch or (hoot them. Their decreafing ia
number is very eafily accounted for ; becaufe
the Indians, before the arrival of the Eiiro^
peansy only caught as many as they found
neceffary to clothe themfelves with, there
being then no trade with the fkins. At
prefent a number of fliips go annually to
Europe, laden chiefly with beavers ikins;
the Englijlo and French endeavour to outdo
each other, by paying the Indians well for
them, and this encourages the latter to ex-
tirpate thefe animals. All the \ eople in
Canada told me, that when they were young,
all the rivers in the neighbourhood oi Mont-
real, the river St. Lawrence not excepted,
were full of beavers and their d kes ; but
at prefent they are fo far extirpated, that one
is obliged to go feveral miles up the country
before one can meet with one. I have al-
ready remarked above, that the beaver fkins
from the north, are better than thofe fr«^m
the fouth.

Beaver-flesh is eaten not only by the
Indians, but like wife by the Europeans,
and efpecially the French, on their talting
days ; for his holinef?, in his fyftem, h.^s
ranged the beaver among the fifh. The

flelh

298 September 1749.

Jefh is reckoned beft, if the beaver has
lived upon vegetables, fuch as the afp, and
the beaver-tree * ; but when he has eaten
iiih, it does not tafte well. To day I tafted
this flelh boiled, for the firft time j and
though every body prefent, belides myfelf,
thought it a delicious difli, yet I could not
agree with them- I think, it is eatable, but
has nothing delicious. It looks black when
boiled, and has a peculiar tafte. In order
to prepare it well, it muil be boiled in fe-
veral waters from morning till noon, that
it may lofe the bad tafte it his. The tail
is likewife eaten, after it has been boiled in
the fame manner, and roafled afterwards ;
but it confifts of fat only, though they
would not call it fo ; and cannot be fwal-
lowed by one who is not ufed to eat it.

Much has already been written concern-
ing the dykes, or houfes of the beavers -,
it is therefore unneceffary to repeat it.
Sometimes, though but feldopi, they catch
beavers with white hair.

Wine is almoft the only liquor which
people above the vulgar are ufed to drink.
They make a kind of fpruce beer of the
top of the white fir -f-, which they drink

* Magnolia glauca^ Linn.

f Epinette blanche. The way of brewing this beer is
<!efcribed r'"lar;>e in the Memoirs of the Royal Acad, of
Sciences, for the yean 7 51, p. 190.

in

MoJitrcal,

H9

in fummer ; but the ufe of it is not gene-
ral ; and it is feldom drank by people of
quality. Thus great fums go annually out
of the country for wine; as they have no
vines here, of which they could make a li-
quor that is fit to be drank. The common
people drink water; for it is not yet cuf-
tomary here to brew beer of malt ; and
there are no orchards large enough to fup-
ply the people with apples for making cy-
der. Some of the people of rank, who
pofiefs large orchards, fometimes, out of
ouriolity, get a fmall quantity of cyder
made. The great people here, who arc
ufed from their youth to drink nothing but
wine, are greatly at a lofs in time of war;
when all the fhips which brought wine are
intercepted by the RngliJJ^ privateers. To-
wards the end of the laft war, they gave
two hundred and fifty Francs^ and even one
hundred Eciis^ for a barriq^uc, or hogfhead,
of wine.

The prefent price of feveral things, I
have been told by fome of the greateft mer-
chants here, is as follows. A middling
horfe cofts forty Francs * and upwards ; a
good horfe is valued at an hundred Francs^

* Franc is the fame as Livre ; and twenty- two Liirts
make a pound fterling.

or

t^oo September 1749.

or more, A cow is now fold for fifty
Francs -, but people can remember the time
when they were fold for ten FjCus *. A
flieep coils five or fix livres at prefent ; but
iafl year, when every thing was dear, it
coft eight or ten Francs. A hog of one
year old, and two hundred, or an hundred
and fifty pound weight, is fold at fifteen
Francs, M. Couagne^ the merchant, told
me, that he had fcen a hog of four hun-
dred weight among the Indians, A chick-
en is fold for ten or twelve ^ols^-^ and a
turkey for twenty fols. A Minot ■ % of
wheat fold for an Ecu laft year ; but at
prefent it coft forty Sols, Maize is always
of the fame price with wheat, becaufe here
is but little of it ; and it is all made ufe of
by thofe who go to trade with the Indians.
A Minot of oats colls fometimes from fif-
teen to twenty Sols ; but of late years it
has been fold for twenty-fix, or thirty Sols,
Peafe bear always the fame price with
wheat. A pound of butter cofts commonly
about eight or ten Sols j bwt lail year it rofe
up to fixteen Sols, A dozen of eggs ufed
to cofl but three Sols ; however, now are

* An Ecu is tliiee Francs.

■f Twenty Solj make one Li-vre.

i A French meafure, abcat the fame as two buihels in

England.

fold

Montreal. 301

fold for five. They make no cheefe nt
Montreal', nor Is there any to be had, ex-
cept what is got from abroad. A water-
melon generally cofts five or fix Sols-, but
if of a large fize, from fifteen to twenty.

There are as yet no manufactures eftab-
lifhed in Canada ; probably, becaule France
will not lofe the advantage of felling off its
own goods here. However, both the in-
habitants of Canada, and the hid tans, are
very ill off for want of them, in tim.es of
war.

Those perfons who want to be married,
muft have the confent of their parents.
However, the judge may give them leave
to marry, if the parents oppofe their union,
without any valid reafcn. Likevvife, if the
man be thirty years of age, and the woman
twenty-fix, they may marry, without far-
ther waiting for their parents confent.

September the 29th. This afternoon I
went out of town, to the fouth-wefi: part of
the ille, in order to view the country, and
the oeconomy of the people, and to colled
leveral feeds. Jufi: before the tovv'n are fome
fine fields, which were formerly culti-
vated, but now ferve as paftures. To the
north-weft appears the high mountain,
which lies weftward of Montreal and is
very fertile, and covered with fields and

eardens

^02 Septeinher 1749.

gardens from the bottom to the fumfoifi
On the fouth-eaft fide is the river St. Law-
rente, which is very broad here i and on
its fides are exteniive corn-fields and mea-
dows, and fine houfes of ftone, which look
white at a diflance. At a great diflance
fouth-eaflwar4, appear the two high moun-
tains near fort Chambldis, and fome others
near lake Champ lain, railing their tops a-
bove the woods. All the fields hereabouts
are filled with fhones of different fizes *, and
among them, there is now and then a black
lime-ftone. About a French mile from the
town, the high road goes along the river^
which is on the left-hand -, and on the
right-hand all the country is cultivated and
inhabited. The farm-houfes are three,
four, or five arpens diftant from each
other. The hills near the river are g^nt^
rally high and pretty fteep ; they confifl of
earth ; and the fields below them are filled
with pieces of rock^flone, and of black
lime-flate. About two French miles from
Montreal, the river runs very rapidly, and
is full of fVones ; in fome places there are
fome waves. However, thofe who go in
boats into the fouthern parts of Canada,
are obliged to work through fuch places.

Most of the farm-houfes in this neigh-
bourhood are of ftone, partly of the black

lime-

Montreal. ^O"

iimc-ftone, and partly of other flones
in the neighbourhood. The roof is mads
of Ihingies or of iiraw. The gable is al-
ways very high and fteep. Other buildings,
luch as barns and ftables, are of wood.

Wild-geese and ducks, began now to
migrate in great flocks to the routhcni
countries.

OSiober the 2d. The two preceding days,
and this, I employed chiefly in colleding
feeds.

The laft night's froft had caufed a great
alteration in feveral trees. Walnut-trees
of all forts (hed their leaves in plenty now.
The flowers of a kind of nettle * were all
entirely killed by the froil:. The leaves of
the American lime-tree were likewife da-
maged. In the kitchen-gardens the leaves
of the melons were all killed by the froft.
However, the beech, oak, and birch, did
not feem to have fuffered at all. The fields
were all covered with a hoar-froft. The
ice in the pools of water was a geometrical
line and a half in thicknefs.

The biennial Oenothera -f- grows in
abundance on open woody hills, and fallow

* Urtica di'uaritata, Linn.
f Otnorhera biennis, Linn.

fields.

304 October 1749.

iields. An old Frenchman, who accom-
panied me as I was colleding its feeds,
could not fufficiently praife its property of
healing wounds. The leaves of the plant
muft be crufhed, and then laid on the
wound.

Scciirs de Congregation are a kind of re-
ligious women, different from nuns. They
do not live in a convent, but have houfes
both in the town and country. They go I
where they pleafe, and are even allowed to
marry, if an opportunity offers ; but this,
I am told, happens very feldom. In many
places in the country, there are two or
more of them : they have their houfe com-
monly near a church, and generally the
parfonage houfe is on the other fide of the
church. Their bufinefs is to inflrudt young
girls in the Chriftian religion, to teach
them reading, writing, needle-work, and
other female accomplifhments. People of
fortune board their daughters with them for
fome time. They have their boarding,
lodging, beds, inflrudion, and whatever
elfethey want, upon very reafonable terms.
The houfe where the whole community of
thefe ladies live, and from whence they are
fent out into the country, is at Montreal,
h lady that wants to become incorporated

among

IjU Chine, ^OC

among them, muft pay a confiderable fum
of money towards the common flock; and
fome people reckon it to be four thoufand
llvres. If a perfon be once received, die
is fure of a fubfiftence during her Hfe-
time.

La Chine is a fine village, three French
miles to the fouth-eafl of ^Montreal, but on
the fame ifle, clofe to the river St. Law-
rence. The farm-houfes ly along the river-
fide, about four or five arpcns from each
other. Here is a fine church of ftone, with
a fmall fleeple ; and the whole place has a
very agreeable lituatlon. Its name is faid
to have had the following origin. As the
unfortunate M. Salee was here, who was
afterwards murdered by his own country-
men further up in the country, he was very
intent upon difcovering a fhorter road to
Chinay by means of the river St. Laivre?ice,

He talked of nothincr at that time but his

•
jiew fliort way to China. But as his pro-
ject of undertaking this journey, in order
to make this difcovery, was flopped by an
accident which happened to him here, and
he did not that time come any nearer China,
this place got its name, as it were, by way
of joke.

This evening I returned lo Montreal.
Vol. III. U OBjber

3o6 Ocioher 1749.

OBober the 5th. The governor-general
at ^lebec is, as I have already mentioned
iDefore, the chief commander in Canada.
Next to him is the intendant at ^lebec ;
then follows the govt^nov o^ Montrealy and
after him the governor of 'Trots Rivieres,
The intendant has the greateft power next
to the governor-general ; he pays all the
money of government, and is prefident of
the board of finances, and of the court of
juftice in this country. He is, however,
under the governor-general ; for if he re-
fufes to do any thing to which he feems
obliged by his office, the governor-general
can give him orders to do it, which he mufl
obey. He is allowed, however, to appeal
to the government in France. In each of
the capital towns, the governor is the
highefl perfon, then the lieutenant-gene-
ral, next to him a major, and after him
the captains. The governor-general gives
the firft orders in all matters of confe-
quence. When he comes to Trots Rivieres
and Montreal^ the power of the governor
ceafes, becaufe he always commands where
he is. The governor-general commonly
goes to Montreal once every year, and
moflly in winter; and during his abfence
from ^lebec, the lieutenant-general com-
7 raand&

Montreal. 30't

mands there. When the governor-general
dies, or goes to France^ before a new one
is come in his ftead, the governor of Mon-
treai goes to ^ebec to command in the
mean while, leaving the major to com-
mand at Montreal.

One or two of the king's {hips are an-
nually lent from France to Canada, carrying
recruits to fupply the places of thofe fol-
diers, who either died in the fervice, or
have got leave to fettle in the country, and
turn farmers, or to return to France. Al-
mofl: every year they fend a hundred, or a
hundred and fifty people over in this man-
ner. With thefe people they likev^'ife fend
over a great number of perfons, who have
been found guilty of fmuggling in France.
They were formerly condemned to the gal-
lles, but at prefent they fend them to the
colonies, where they are free as foon as they
arrive, andean choofe what manner of life
they pleafe, but are never allowed to go out
of the country, without the king's fpecial
licence. The king's ihips likewife bring a
great quantity of merchandizes w^hich the
king has bought, in order to be diftributed
among the hidians on certain occafions. The
inhabitants of Canada pay very little to the
king. In the year 1748, a beginning was,
U 2 hov/ever,

308 OBoher 1749.

however, made, by laying a duty of three
per cent- on all the French goods imported
by the merchants of Canada. A regula-
tion was likewife made at that time, that all
the furs and ikins exported to France from
hence, fliould pay a certain duty; but what
is carried to the colonies pays nothing. The
merchants of all parts of France and its co-
lonies, are allowed to fend fliips with goods
to this place; and the ^ebec merchants are
at liberty iikevv'ife to fend their goods to any
place in France^ and its colonies. But the
merchants at ^lebec have but {tv^ fhips, be-
caufe the failors wages are very high. The
towns in France v/hich chiefly trade with
Canada, are Roc he lie and Bourdeaux -, next
to them are Marfeilles, Nantes, Havre de
Grace, St. Malo, and others. The king's
lliips which bring goods to this country,
come either from Brcjl or from Rochefort.
The merchants at ^i-ebec fend flour, wheat,
peafe, wooden utenfils, ^c. on their own
bottoms, to the French poffeffions in the
Wsjl-lndies. The walls round Montreal
were built in 1738, at the king's expence,
on condition the inhabitants fliould, little
by little, pay off the coil to the king. The
town at prefent pays annually 6000 livrei
for theai to government, of which 2000 are
I given

Montreal. 309

given by the feminary of priefts. At ^e-
bee the walls havelikewife been built at the
king's expence, but he did not redemand the
expence of the inhabitants, becaufe they
had already the duty upon goods to pay as
above mentioned. The beaver trade be-
longs folely to the Indian company in
France, and nobody is allowed to carry it
on here, befides the people appointed by that
company. Every other fur trade is open to
every body. There are feveral places among
the Indians far in the country, where the
French have ftores of their goods ; and thefe
places they call les pojles. The king has no
other fortrefies in Canada th^n ^iciec. Fort
Chamblais, Fort St. Jean, Fort St. Frede-
ric ^ or Crownpoint, Montreal, Front en ac,
and Niagara. All other places belong to
private perfons. The king keeps the Nia-
gara trade all to himfeif. Every one who
intends to go to trade with the Indians muft
have a licence from the governor-general,
for which he muft pay a fum according as
the place he is going to is more or lefs ad-
vantageous for trade. A merchant who fends
out a boat laden with all forts of goods, and
fouf or five perfons with it, is obliged to give
five or fix hundred livresfor the permiflion;
and there are places for Vv^hich they give a
U 3 thoufund

3IO OBober 1749.

thoufand livres. Sometimes one cannot buy
the licence to go to a certain trading place,
becaufe the governor-general has granted,
or intends to grant it to feme acquaintaince
or relation of his. The money arifing from
the granting of licences, belongs to the go-
vernor-general ; but it is cuftomary to give
half of it to the poor: whether this is al-
ways ftridly kept to or not, I fliall not pre^
tend to determine.

End OF THE Third Volume,

INDEX.

A.
/jCer Negumh^ i. 67.

— rubrunu red maple, i. 66.
AcUllaa millefolium^ iii. 291.
Adiantum pcdatiim^T(\^\^en-\\-2\x^ iii. 118.
Albany, town of, ii. 255.

fort at, ii. 258.

■ houfes of, ii. 256.

■ — inhabitants of, ii. 21.

fituation of, ii. 258.

Albecor, i. 19.

Algonkin words, iii. 204.

Alliion Canadeyife ? ii. 133.

Anas ocuta^ blue bill, i. 237.

Anemone bepatica, ii. 104.

Anies, iii. 181.

Animals, tameable, i. 207.

Anne fort near Canada, ii. 297.

Annona 7nuricata^ cuftard app!e, i. 69.

Antiquities found in North-America, iii. 123.

Ants, black, ii. 68.

red, ii. 70.

Apocynum androJiS ml folium^ iii. 26.

- cannabinum^ i. 131. ii. 131.

Arftimn lappa^ burdock, iii. 27.

Ardea Canadenfts^ ii. 72.

Arum Virginium^ Virginian wake-robin, i. 125.

Arundo arenaria, iii. 210.

Afchpias Syriaca, iii. 28.

Afp, Penfylvanian, ii. 125.

Azalea luiea, i. 66.

muUfiora^ white honey-fuckle, or May flower,

ii. 169.

B.

Badger, i. 189.

Bark'boats, method of making, ii. 298.

U 4~ Bat-

INDEX.

Battoes, ii. 242.

Bay St. Paul, in Canada, iii. 200.

Bears carnivorous in North-America, i. 116.

plentiful in Canada, iii. 12.

Beavers, ii. 59.

flefh eaten in Canada, iii. 297.

tree, i. 204.

Betula alnusy i. 67. ii. 90.

lenta, i. 69.

• ■ nana (pumila^ lAvin) i. 138.

Bidens bipimiata^ i. 171.

Bill of mortality for Philadelphia, i. 57.

Blatta Orienialis, ii. 13, 14.

Blubbers, i. 15.

Blue-bills. S&c Jnas acuta.

Blue-bird, ii. 70.

Boats ufed in Canada, iii. 15.

Bonetos, i. 21.

Bottle-nofe, a kind of whale, i. 18.

Bugs, ii, II.

Bull-frogs. See Rana boons.

Bunias cakilcy iii. 2 11.

Burdock. See Ar£tium lappa.

Burlington, the principal town inNew-Jerfey, ii. 219.

C.

Calabafhes, i. 348.

Cancer minutus, '• 13'

Candleberry-tree, i. 192.

Canoes, ii. 241.

Cap aux oyes, iii. 210.

Caprimulgus Europaeus, ^, whip-poor-Will, ii. 152.

Carahus latus, ii. 68.

Carduus crijpus^ iii. 294.

Carpinus Betulus, i. 68.

0/irya, i. ibid.

CnjJiaChamcccriJia^ i. 120
Cajlor zibet hicus, ii. 57, 285.
Caterpillars, a kind of, ii. 7.
Cattle, wild, i. 207.

Cattle,

INDEX.

Cattle, wild. In the country of the Illinois, iii. 60.
Celtis occidentalism nettle-tree, i. 69.
Cephalanthiis occidentalism button-wood, ibid.
Cercis Canadenfis^ fallad-tree, ibid.
Champlain, lake, ii. 90.

Characters of the French and Englifh women in North-
America compared, iii. 55.

of rhe ladies in Canada, iii. 208.

Cbenopodium albu7n, i. 118.

— — anthehninticutn^ i. 163.

Chermes alni, i. 154.
Cherry-trees, wild, iii. 160.
Chine, a village in Canada, iii. 305.
Chinquapins, iii. 296.
Cimex lacujiris, ii. 126.

leSiularius, ii. 11.

Cicindela campejlris, varietas, ii. 126.
Civility of the inhabitants of Canada, iii. 135.
Clergy of Canada, iii. 140.

Climate, difference of, between Montreal and Que-
bec, iii. 152.
Cockroaches, ii. 13,

Cohoes fall, in the river Mohawk, ii. 275.
ColUnfcnia Canadenfu, i. 197.
Coluber conjiri^ior, black fnake, ii. 202.
Columba migrator ia^ ii. 82.

Comarum palujircy i. 138.

Copper, native, from the Upper Lake, iii. 278.

Cormia Ammonis, petrified, iii. 23.

Cornus Florida^ dog-wood, i. 66.

Corvus comix, crow, ii. 66.

Cory /us avellanay ii. 90,

Coryphana Hippurus^ i. 19.

Cows in Canada degenerate, iii. 188.

Cranes, American, ii. 72.

formerly abundant in America, i. 290.

Cratagus crus gain, \. 66, 115.

■ ■ — tomentofa, currants, ii. 151.

Crickets, ii. 10.

field, ii. 69.

Crows, great flights of, ii. 65. Cryftals,

INDEX.

Cryftals, tranfparent, i. 82.
Culex pipiens, mufquetoes, i. 143.

pulicaris, ii. 296. ,

Cunila pukgmdes, penny-royal, i. 194.

Cuprejfus thyoides, white cedar, or white juniper, ii. 174,

D.

Dandelion, iii. 13.
Datura Jiramonium^ i. 152.
Deal, i. 2.

Decay of the teeth of the Europeans in North-Ame-
rica, i. 360.
Delaware bay, i. 10.

— river, i. ir.

» good water of, i. 47.

—• ■ convenient for trade, ihid,

Delphinus Phocana, i. 17.

Diet in Canada, iii. 182.

Diofpyros Vtrgtniana^ perHrnon, i. 68, 127, 345.

Dirca paluftris, moufe-wood, ii. 148.

Diftempers common among the Indians, iii. 32.

Dog-fi(h, i. 18.

Dogs trained to draw water from the river, iii. 185.

— — put before fledges in winter, iii. 186.

Dolphin, or dorado, i. 19.

Draba verna, ii. 91.

Dracontium foetidum, ii. 90^

Drowned lands, iii. i.

Vytifcus piceus, ii. i2'js

E.
Elizabeth Town in New-Jerfey, i. 232.
Elymus arenarius, fea-lime grafs, iii. 210.
Ember iza hye?nalis, ii. 51.
Epigaa repens, creeping ground-laurel, ii. 130.
Efchara:^ i. 13.

Efquimaux, a nation in the ardic parts of North-
America, iii. 233.

' — — « arms of, iii. 236.

» ' ' ■■ boats of, iii. 235.

Efquimaux,

INDEX.

Efquimaux, drefs of, iii. 234.

words, iii. 239.

Evergreens in North-America, i. 360.
Excrefcences on feveral trees, ii. 22.
Exocoetui -volitans, flying fifti, i. 20«

F.

Fagus cajlanea^ cheftnut-tree, i. 67.

fylvatica^ beech, i. 69.

— — pumi/a, chinquapin, iii. 296.
Fans, made of wild turkeys tails, iii, 66,
Fi'Iis lynx, wolf-lynx, ii. 200.
Fever and ague, i. 364.

Fifli, caught by a peculiar method at Trois Rivieres,
iii. 92.

flying, i. 20,

Fleas, original in America, ii. 9.

Food of the Indians, ii. 95.

Formica nigra, ii. 68.

Fort St. Frederic, or Crownpoint, iii. 4, 34.

— — — John, in Canada, iii, 45.

Foxes, grey, i. 282.

red, i. 283.

Fraxinus excelfior^ afh, i. 68.
Fucus nutans^ fea-weed, i. 12.

G.

Galium t'lnSforium^ Hi. 14.
Gentiana lutea, i. 138.

japonaria^ iii. 294.

German-town in Penfylvania, i. 89

Giants pots, i. 121.

Ginfeng, iii. 1 14.

Gleditfia triacanthosy honey-Iocufl-tree, i. 69.

Glycine Jpios, ii. 96.

Gnaphalium margaritaceum^ i. 130.

Goods that have a run among the Indians, iii. 266.

given in exchange by the Indians, iii, 274.

Gourds, i. 347.

Qracula quijcula^ the purple daw, ii. 76,

Grafs-

I N D E X. ^,'

Grafs-worms, ii. 76.

Ground-hog. See Badger.

Gryllus campejlris, ii. 10, 69.

— — — domejiicus^ ii. 10.

Gulls, common, i. 23.

Gypfum, fibrous, iii. 229.

Gyrinus natator (Aviericanus)t ii. 139.

H.

Hamamel'ts Virginica^ i. 68.

Hares in Canada, iii. 59.

Hatchets of the Indians, ii. 37,

Hedera helix ^ ivy, i. 141.

Helleborus tr if alius, iii. 160.

Hinds, tamed in North- America, ii. 197.

Hinlopen cape, in Penfylvania, i. 10.

Hirundo pelafgia, chimney-fwaliow, ii. 146.

purpurea, purple-martin, ii. 147,

r//><2r;«, fand-martin,or ground -fwallow,ii. 147.

— — — ruftica^ barn-fwallow, ii. 140.

Hopnifs. See Glycine Jpios.

Horfes in Canada ftrong, iii. 187.

Humming bird, i. 210.

Hurons^ an Indian nation, iii. 178.

I.

Jerfey pine, i. 334. .

Ilex aquifolium, holly, i. 351, 360.

Impoflibility of eftablifhing filk manufactures, and

making wine, in North-America, i. 123, 125.
Indians, livelihood of the, ii. 113.

religion of the, ii. 117.

Inhabitants of Canada, iii. 8.

Inftances of great fertility among the inhabitants of

North-America, ii. 4. «

Intenfenefs of the frolt in America, ii. 49.
Iron-works at Trois Rivieres, iii. 87.
'Juglam alba^ hiccory, i. 66.

nigra, i. 67.

■ — baccata? butternut-tree, i. 69.

Juniperus

INDEX.

Jumperus Virginiana, the red cedar, or red juniper, ii-
1 80.

K.
Kalmia lat'ifol'ta^ i. 68, 336.

angujiifolia^ i i . 2 1 5 .

Katni fs. See Sagittaria fagittifolla.

Kettles of the Indians, li. 41. ;

Kitchen-herbs of Canada, iii. 129.

Knives of the Indians, ii. 39.

L.

Lac St. Pierre, iii. 83.

Land -birds feen at fea, i. 24

Larus canus^ i. 23.

Laurus ajiivalis, fpice-wood, i. 68.

Jajfafras^ i. 68, 146, 340.

Lead-veins near Bay St. Paul, iii. 212.

Leontodon taraxacimiy iii. 13.

Lepas anatifera^ i. 16.

Licences for marrying in America, in the gift of the

governors, ii. 25.
Lichen rangifcrimis, iii. 137.
Ligu/irum vulgare, privet, i. 86, 165.
Linie-flates, black, iii. 243.
Lime-ftone, pale grey, i. 84.
Linnaa borealis, i. 138.
Liriodendron tidipifera, i. 66, 202.
Liquidaftibarjlyracijiua, i. 67, 161.
Locufts, which deltroy the young branches of trees, ii. 6.
Log-worms, i. 2.
Long ifland, ii. 226.
Loxia Cardtnalts^ ii. 71.
Liipwus p£re?:nis, ii. 155.
Lynxes in America, bee Felis lynx.

M.
Mcignolia glaucay beaver-tree, i. 69, 204.
Maize-thieves, defcription of, ii. 74.

— natural hiftory of, ii. 76.

Maize-

INDEX.

Maize-thieves, profcribed in America, ii. 78.

white backed, ii. 274.

Maple, red, i. 167.

Marangoins, a kind of gnats, iii. 47.

Marble, white wiih blueifh grey fpots, i. 83.

Jl/Iarmor rude. See Lime-ftone.

Mechanicks, few in Canada, iii. 59.

JHedufa aurita^ i. 15.

Meloe majalis, ii. 105.

— — profcarabaus^ ii. 157.

Mickmacks, an Indian Nation, iii, 180.

Mink, ii. 61.

Mocking bird, i. 217.

Moles, a kind of, i. 191.

fubterraneous walks of, i. igo.

Montmorenci waterfall, iii. 227.
Montreal, a great town in Canada, iii. 71.

• account of the climate of, iii. 75.

•■-■■ churches and convents of, iii. 72.

■_ — hofpital of, iii. 74.

Moofe-^deer, i. 296.

'- — nothing but an elk, iii. 204.

Morus ruira, i. 68.

Motacilla ftalisy bluebird, ii. 70.

Moths abundant in the clothes and furs, ii. 8«

Mountain flax, i. 303.

Milfcovy glafs, i. 84.

M.ufk rats, ii. 56.

.»___ carnivorous, ii. 285.

l^dfquitoes, i. 113.

Myrlca cerifera^ candleberry-tree, i. 192.

gaki : i . 138.

Mytilus anatinusy mufcle fliells, ii. 80, 114.

N.
Natural hiftory promoted in Canada, iii. 5.
Negroe flaves in North- America, i. 396.

know a kind of poilbn, 1. 397.

New Briftol, i. 219.
Brunfwick, i. 229.

New

INDEX.

Newc:iftle, a town in Penfylvania, i. 26.

• founded by the Dutch, i. 26.

New- York, i. 247.

aflembly of deputies, i. 259,

houfes of, i. 249.

public buildings, i, 250.

port, i. 252.

— trade, i. 253.

Nicholfon fort, near Canada, ii. 293.
Noxious infedlsin America, ii. 6.
Nyjfa aquaticat Tupelotree, ii. 67.

O.

Oenothera biennis^ ili. 294.

Oriolus phoenkeia, ii. 79.

Orleans, lUe of, in the river St, Lawrence, iii. 194.

Orontium aquaticum, ii. lOl.

Oxalis corniculata, i. 201.

P.

Panax qinnquefoUum.^ iii. 114. *t.

Paper-currency of Canada, iii. 68.

Papilio aniiipa, ii. 105.

— euphrofyne^ ii. ibid.

Parfneps, iii. 67.

Partridges, American, ii. 51.

white. See Ptarmigans.

Par us major y i. 24.

Peafe, deftroyed by an infet^, i. 173.

Pediiiites, iii. 22,

Penn's Neck, in Kew-Jerfey, ii. 17.

Petice Riviere, iii. 221.

Petrel, i, 23.

Phaeton csthereus, i. ibia\

Philadelphia, capital of Penfylvania, i. 31.

by whom, and when built, i. 32.

houfes of, i. 34.

. public buildings, i, 36.

• ■^— regularity, and beauty of its {Ireet',

i. 33.

Philadelphia,

INDEX.

Philadelphia, temperature of its climate, i. 46*

trade of, i. 49.

Phytolacca decandra^ American nightfliade, i. 95, 196*
Ptcus auratusy ii. 86.

caroUnus, ii. ibid.

■T erythrocephalus^ ii. ibid.

piled tus, ii. ibid.

principalis, ii. 85.

— — pubefcenSi, ii. 87. ■

varius, ii. ibid.

villafusy ii. 86.

Pierre a Calumet, iii. 230.
Pigeons, wild, ii. 82.
Pinus abies^ the pine, i. 360.
. fylvejiris, the fir, i. ibid.

tceda, i. 69.

— — Americana, i. ibid.

Plantago major, i. 118.

maritima, iii. 211.

Platanus occidentalism i. 62.

Pleurify, i. 376.^

Poa angiijii folia, iii. 156.

capillaris, iii. 66.

Poke. See Phytolacca.

Polecat, American, i. 273.

Pclytrichutn commune, i. 184.

Pontederia cordata, iii. 260.

Porpefle, i. 16. r ■ r 11 i

Portiiwuefe, or Spanifli man of war, a Ipecies of blub-
ber, i. 15.

Portulaca oleracca, purflane, ii. 284.

Potentilla fruticofa, i. 138.

Prairie de Magdelene, a fmall village in Canada, lii.

52.

Preferablenefs of Old Sweden to New Sweden, li.

188.
Prinos verticillatus, i. 67.
Probability of Europeans being in North-America

long before Columbus's difcovery, ii. 31*

Procellaria pelagica, i. 22. _

Prunella

INDEX,

Procellaria puffinus, i. 23.
prunella vulgaris^ in. 294.
Prunui domejiica, i. 67.

■ fpinojhy i. 68.

Firginiana^ i. 67.

Ptarmigans, iii. 58.
Pyrites, cubic, i. 82.
Pyrus coronariay crabcree, i. 68, ii. 166.

Q.

Quebec, the chief city in Canada, iii. 97.
— — — — the palace of, iii. 99.

— — other public buildings, iii. lOO.

■-*— climate of, iii. 246.
^ercus alba^ i. 65.

' ■ — Hifpanica^ i. 66.

" phellosy ibid.

— — — prinoi^ ibid.

rubra, ibid.

. varietas, i. 68.

R.

Raccoon, i. 97, ii. 63.

Rana boans^ bullfrog, 11. 1 70,

ocellata^ ii. 88.

Rapaapo, a village in New-Jerfey, ii. 168.

Rats, not natives of America, ii. 47.

Rattle-fnake, found no further north than fort St. Fro
derick, iii. 48.

Reafons for fuppofing part of North-America was for-
merly under water, i 132, i. 199.

Redbird, ii. 71.

Rein-deer mofs, iii. 137.

Remarks upon the climate of North-America, i, 10^,

Rhus glabra y fumack, i. 75, 66.

radicans^ i. 67, 177.

— — vernix, poifon tree, .. 77, 68.

Ribei nigrum, i, 68.

Robinia pfeudacacia^\ocu9i-UGQ, i. 6q.

Robin-red-breaft, American. See Turdui rnigratortuu
Vol.. Ill, :JC Rockltonc

J N D E X.

Rockllones of various forts, near Fort St*, Frederic,

iii. 20.
Rubu$ occidentalism i. 66.
Rudbeckla triloba, iii. 294.

S.
Sagittarla fagitt'ifoUai ii. 97.
Salem, a little town in New-Jerfey, ii. 164.
Sambucus occidentalism f. CanadenfiSm i. 66. ii. 283.
Sands of feveral forts, near Lake Champlain, iii. 24.
Sangiiinaria Canadenfis^ ii, 1 40.
Saratoga, an Englifti fort towards Canada^ ii. 289.
Sarothra gentianoideSm i. 126.
Scarabctusy ii. 68. *

— carolinus f ii. 125.

Scirpus pallujirhm iii. 83.
Scomber pelamys, boneto, i. 21.

• ihytjnus, tunny, i. 19.

Sea hen, i. 24.
Sea weeds, i. 12.

Servants, different kinds of, i. 387,
Shear water, i. 23.

Ships, annually entered into, and failed frorti Philadel-
phia, i. 53.

Si/on Canadenfey iii. 27.

Skeleton found in Canada, fuppofed to be of an cle*
phant, iii. 12.

Skunk, or American pole-cat, i. 273.

Smilax laurifolia, i. 68. ii. 185.

Snake, black, ii. 202.

Snow-bird, ii. 51, 81.

Soap-ftone, i. 300.

Soeurs de Congregation, iii. 364.

Soldiers advantageoufly provided for in Canada, iii. i6>

Sorbus aiiciiparia, iii. 151.

Spartium fcopariiimy i. 287.

Squaflies, i. 348.

Squirrels, flying, i. 32O.

grey, i. 310.

— ' — ground, i, 322.

Statej

Index.

Sta'tCj former, of New-Sv/eden, ii. 106.

* of the American Indians before the arrival of

the Europeans, ii. 36.
Sterna hirundo^ '> 23.
Sturgeons, ii. 229, 278.

Sulphureous fprings near Bay St. Paul, lii. 215.
Sv/ailov/, barn or houfe, ii. 14..

chimney, ii. 146.

— ground, or fand martin, ii. 147.

feen at fea. i. 24.

Tawho, or Tawhim, ii. 98,

Tawkee. See Orontium.

Terns, i. 23.

Tetrao lagopus, Ptarmigans, iii. 58.

Thuja occidentalis, iii. 170.

Tilia Americana, lime-tree, i. 59.

Tifavojaune rouge ^ iii. 14.

Titmoufe, great, i. 24.

Tobacco pipes, Indian, ii. 42.

Travado. ii. 214.

Trees, which refift putrefai^ion lefs than others, ii. ig.

Trientalis europaa, i. 138.

Triglochin niarkimum, i. 138.

Trochilus colubris, i. 210.

Trois Rivieres, a town in Canada, iii. 85.

Tropic bird, i, 23.

Turdus migratorius, ii. 90.

■ — polyglottosy ii. 217.

Turtle, i. 22.

Typha laiifolia^ ii. 132. iii. 218.

U.
Vacc'inium, a fpecies of, i. 66.

— — another fpecies, ilid^

— — hlfpidulum, ii-79»

Veratrum album, ii. 91.
Verhafcumthapfus, i. 128.
Verbena o^cinalis J i. 119.

Vieh

INDEX.

Viola Canadenfts, iii. 294.
V'tjcum alburn^ i. 360.

filamentofum^ i. 286. >

Vit'is labritfcay i. 66. ,

vulpina, ibid.

Viverra putoriusy fkun-k, i. 273,
XJlmiis Americana^ i. 67. ii. 298.
Vrfm MeleSi badger, i. 189.

W.

Wampum, ii. 261. iii. 273.

Wafp-nefts, curious, ii.. 137.

Water, bad at Albany, ii. ^53

Watering of meadows in Penfylvanra, i. 308.

Water-melons, iii. 261.

Waves, bignefs of, in the Bay of Bifcay, \. 3.

Whip-poor-Will, li. 151.

Whorde-berries, American, ii. 80.

Wilmington, a little town in Penfylvania, i. 156*.

Winds, changeable about the Azores, i. 5.

Wolves in America, i. 285.

Women in Canada, drefs of, iii. 81.

Wood of different forts, for joiners work, ii. 21.

XVoodbridge, a fmall village in New- Jerfey,ji, 232,

Woodlice, ii. 16. 303.

Woodpeckers, Carolina, ii. 86.

" crcftcd, ibid.

. gold winged, ibid.

king of the, ii, 85.

leaft fpotted, ii. 87.

— , lefler fpotted, yellow bellied^ ibid^

, red headed, ii. 86.

i feen at fe'a. i, 25.

=. — fpotted hairy, ii. 86.

Z.

7:iz ania quatica, iii. 32, 54.

F J N / S,